The only way of not having that would be to close Australia to flights," Senator Brown said. "We should also be looking to see how we can help neighbouring countries if it does become a pandemic." The Senator’s comments come as New Zealand health officials reveal they are investigating an influenza-like illness amongst a group of 25 people from Rangitoto College, on Auckland‘s North Shore, following the group’s return from a school trip to Mexico.

Senator Brown called for airports to be on alert for people coming into Australia from the Americas. But a health department official said the country’s airports weren’t on alert, but were aware of the situation. Australians with flu symptoms after recent visits to Mexico are warned to seek medical treatment, following the deadly swine flu outbreak.

Australia’s health protection officials are in talks about how to guard the nation from the pig flu outbreak in Mexico and the US. The flu, feared to have killed up to 81 people in Mexico, has "pandemic potential", the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, as concerns grow of the virus spreading in the US and worldwide. Australia health officials, including chief medical officer Jim Bishop, are holding talks today. The Department of Health and Ageing is liaising with the WHO, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health experts, a spokeswoman for the department says.
"Australia has good communicable disease surveillance and control systems in place to detect and respond to outbreaks of illness," she said.

"Anyone that has returned from Mexico with influenza-like symptoms since March this year should seek advice from their general practitioner or public health unit." Health authorities in the US state of Kansas have confirmed two cases of swine flu, bringing the number of cases in the US to at least 10.  The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said two adults were confirmed to be carrying the virus. One of the victims was still ill, while the other had recovered.

"One of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico," a statement from the department said. "Both persons … became ill with the same unique (H1N1) strain of swine flu that has been identified in Mexico, California and Texas," the statement read. Earlier yesterday New York officials said eight to nine students at a New York City school were suspected of having swine flu, although test results are still pending.

British health authorities have also been placed on alert after a member of a British Airways cabin crew was taken to hospital with suspected swine flu after becoming sick on a return flight from Mexico. Symptoms of the disease are similar to seasonal flu, with high temperatures accompanying body aches and a sore throat.

Asian health authorities are also on alert, with some checking passengers and pork products from Mexico. Japan‘s biggest international airport stepped up health surveillance, while the Philippines said it may quarantine passengers with fevers who have been to Mexico. Health authorities in Thailand and Hong Kong said they were closely monitoring the situation. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arriving in the country from swine-flu affected territories was required to report to authorities.

Malaysia and other Asian nations said they were awaiting further advice from WHO, whose Director-General Margaret Chan said Saturday the North American outbreak of a never-before-seen virus was a very serious situation with "pandemic potential".
At least 81 people have died from severe pneumonia caused by a flu-like illness in Mexico, according to WHO. Some of those who died are confirmed to have a unique version of the A/H1N1 flu virus that is a combination of bird, pig and human viruses.
Mexico has closed schools, museums, libraries and theatres in a bid to contain the outbreak, which may have sickened about 1,000 people there.

Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic caused by viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.