Australia reported its first case of swine flu, after a woman tested positive for the disease as she returned from a trip to the US, the government said
Australia reported its first case of swine flu, after a woman tested positive for the disease as she returned from a trip to the US, the government said. "We have a person who had contracted the disease overseas and has fully recovered by the time they returned to Australia," Health Minister Nicola Roxon said.
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"This person identified themselves to a border nurse... to explain that she had been ill. It is understood that the person contracted and recovered from the disease while overseas and recovered by the time she flew back into Australia." As a precaution, Roxon said authorities were contacting other passengers who were on the woman's flight from Los Angeles, which arrived in Australia on Thursday.
The woman was likely no longer infectious when she was in transit and had tested "weakly" positive, with the flu strain detected at a very low count, Roxon said. It had been more than a week since the woman was first ill and was not displaying any symptoms, but presented herself to medical staff at Brisbane airport for a swab, Roxon said.
A total of 567 Australians had been tested for the disease, and 18 were currently awaiting results, Roxon said, adding that despite the confirmed case, the government had decided not to elevate its pandemic threat level to the containment phase.
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