More than 70 suspected swine flu cases in Australia


There are more than 70 suspected cases of deadly swine flu across Australia, but we are being assured the chance of a full-blown pandemic is slim.Around 150 people in Mexico alone have died from the virus in recent weeks, prompting an alert from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The World Health Organisation's upgraded its pandemic threat level to four, which is two steps short of declaring a full-blown pandemic. "Of course, it's of concern to us that we're now at the next phase, but we have introduced, as of last night, new border measures at our airports," federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon told ABC Radio on Tuesday. "If we identify any cases in Australia, our response will need to change over time." Ms Roxon said that while Australia was well placed to deal with the situation, it would be "overconfident" to say it was able to protect itself entirely. A number of countries, including the UK and US, have reported confirmed cases while in Australia over 70 people are suspected of having the virus, according to the Health Department.All have recently travelled to the US, Canada or Mexico and are displaying flu-like symptoms.Pilots on flights coming into Australia are also being forced to report on the health of passengers.Hundreds of Australians arrived home on a flights from the Americas today, but many said they are not too concerned."Not at this point in time because I've lived through the Chinese SARS scare," one passenger arriving from LA said.NSW has joined the rest of the states in putting the pandemic plan into place but Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant insists it is merely a precaution."We are currently in the delay phase, which means that we haven't had any (cases) in Australia," she said.All Australian patients are being kept in self-enforced isolation and are being asked to take Tamiflu anti-influenza medication.

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