Swine flu: hunt for passengers from Flight NZ5

Wanganui health authorities are anxious to contact two local people who arrived back in the country at the weekend from North America aboard the same flight as a group of students thought to have been infected by the deadly swine flu.
Those two are among five locals aboard Air New Zealand flight NZ5 that flew from Los Angeles to Auckland on Saturday. All five then made the connecting flight to the River City on the weekend.
Jo Priestley, communications adviser for the Whanganui District Health Board, said one family of three was under voluntary quarantine, awaiting the outcome of testing of a second group of Auckland students health authorities believe may have been infected with Influenza A - the same family as the deadly swine flu.
The Wanganui travellers were on the same flight as students from Auckland's Northcote College. The students had been visiting Mexico, where the death toll from swine flu sits at 103.
Ten students from Auckland's Rangitoto College have tested positive for Influenza A. They were part of another group that had also been to Mexico and returned via Los Angeles. Two from that group were admitted to hospital - one has been discharged, while the second, a teacher, was treated with Tamiflu.
Another 1600 people in Mexico are sick from the swine flu strain with other cases reported in the United States, Canada, Spain and France.
On Sunday night, New Zealand's health authorities put the alert status for response to a potential influenza epidemic up from white to yellow, a standby phase that is one below the code red response phase.
Ms Priestley said the three locals already contacted "are exhibiting no signs of the virus whatsoever".
"All had gone into voluntary isolation, which is normal, and they are being treated with Tamiflu," Ms Priestley said.
"The key thing to remember is that it hasn't been confirmed that the students had that particular virus, and we don't want people jumping to the wrong conclusions."
She said public health staff were taking a "pretty precautionary approach" for people who had come from affected areas in the past two weeks.
"Because we're being precautionary, if anyone is concerned they should contact their GP. The GP can take swabs and, in consultation with our public health unit, they may actually be offered Tamiflu as well.
"It's all about being cautious at this stage, until we get those results back about the students."
Ms Priestley said there was nothing sinister about voluntary isolation either.
"It's what we advise anyone with the flu to do, anyway - keep the fluids up, contact your doctor and stay away from other people".
Patrick O'Connor, Whanganui Public Health Medical Officer, told the Chronicle the incubation period of the flu was three days, so anyone who was on the onward flight from Auckland with the Wanganui family was not deemed to be at risk.
Dr O'Connor said the district health board was receiving guidance from the Ministry of Health and was monitoring the situation day-to-day.
Dr O'Connor said the H1N1 flu circulated between pigs. Those first infected overseas were likely to have been in close contact with pigs and passed the strain on to others through sneezing.