Update 62 - Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu

Media Release
4:00pm, Saturday 6 June 2009

Update 62 - Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu
 

New Zealand situation

The cumulative total of confirmed cases in New Zealand is now 13, up from 11 yesterday.

The new confirmed cases include:

a passenger off Air NZ flight NZ5 which arrived from Los Angeles on 30 May 2009. This person and their close contacts are now in isolation at home and being treated with Tamiflu.
 
a child who returned from Australia on 26 May 2009. This child, along with their close contacts are now in isolation and being treated with Tamiflu.  Public health teams are doing a considerable amount of work tracing contacts of this case involving 37 children and seven staff from the Tama Ale Eleele A'oga Amata child care centre in Wylie Road, Papatoetoe.  All the suspected cases are being asked to stay at home in isolation, and are being treated with Tamiflu.

The cumulative total of probable cases is 11, unchanged since yesterday.
There are currently 68 suspected cases, up from 58 yesterday. The numbers of suspected cases fluctuate as more people with symptoms arriving from affected areas are assessed (treated and isolated), and as laboratory testing rules out some suspected cases.

There is no updated information available on the numbers of people in isolation or quarantine and being treated with Tamiflu. Yesterday (Friday 5 June) there were 66 people in isolation or quarantine. The numbers of people in isolation vary according to when they complete 72 hours of the five-day course of Tamiflu.

 We remain in the  containment phase where our priority is to limit the spread of the virus.  There is considerable work being carried out by public health teams to identify, isolate and treat individuals and their contacts.

All of the cases to date have either picked up the infection overseas or caught it from a close contact.  

GPs and primary care staff play an important role in identifying any suspect cases, by asking about recent travel history or contact with a confirmed case of Influenza a (H1N1) when people contact them with influenza-like symptoms.  Our surveillance systems indicate that there has been a small increase in the number of people visiting their doctor with influenza-like symptoms in the past three weeks, as happens every year at the start of the winter flu season.  However, anyone who has recently travelled overseas and is ill with influenza symptoms is advised stay home and phone their GP or Healthline (0800 611 116) for medical advice.

International Update from the World Health Organization

5 June 2009 -- As of 06:00 GMT, 5 June 2009, 69 countries have officially reported 21,940 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 125 deaths.

As at 5am on 6 June, Australia has reported 1006 confirmed cases (this is up from 876 yesterday).  Victoria has 874 cases (more than 85% of Australia's confirmed cases.)  All Australian states and territories now have at least one confirmed case.  (Note: these figures are higher than those reported on the WHO website because the information is more up to date)

The breakdown of the number of laboratory-confirmed cases by country is given in the following table and map.

Map of the spread of Influenza A(H1N1): number of laboratory confirmed cases and deaths [png 186kb]

Updates on the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak are available on the WHO website on a regular basis (http://www.who.int).

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