(ChinaPost.com.tw) – Thailand worried about a swine flu outbreak on a naval base Thursday after seven cadets tested positive and 200 more fell ill, while three more American students visiting Cambodia were diagnosed with the disease.

Press reports said Papua New Guinea’s health minister was quarantined with flu symptoms and was awaiting results of tests after visiting Australia.

In Thailand, Navy Commander Admiral Kamthorn Pumhiran said the seven cadets who tested positive for the virus were at Sattahib Naval Base, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Bangkok.

He said the other cadets with symptoms were isolated in separate quarters at the base. They are all in stable condition and being tested for the virus. Thailand reported 69 new cases Thursday, bringing the national total to 1,054.

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bun Heng told reporters that three students who arrived from the U.S. state of Texas on June 19 had tested positive for the virus. They ranged in age from 16 to 20 and raised Cambodia’s total cases to four.

On Wednesday, authorities announced the country’s first swine flu case in a 16-year-old girl — part of the student group — who developed flu symptoms a day after arriving. She sought medical care Monday.

Read more….

A remote First Nations community has shut down its school over heightened concern a severe flu is spreading among area residents.

St. Theresa Point First Nation Chief David McDougall saidtoday an additional five children suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were flown to Winnipeg on Monday night.

Over the last week, seven people suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were medivaced to Winnipeg in the last week, including two pregnant women who were sent to St. Boniface Hospital’s intensive care unit. One woman lost her child as a result of the illness.

Health officials have flown in at least two additional nurses and two doctors to deal with the emerging respiratory crisis in the remote community, located 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Lab tests haven’t confirmed the cause of the illness, but public health officials suspect the respiratory virus could be H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.

Residents have been told to avoid public gatherings and stay home if they’re sick to stop the spread of the disease. “There was a spike in the number of cases brought to the nurses’ station with flu-like symptoms,” McDougall said. “It was a red flag.”

Read more….

As H1N1 (swine) flu continues to spread, it’s clear that the worldwide outbreak of this new virus remains a rigorous test for science and public health. Regardless of whether the outbreak reaches pandemic levels, H1N1 has much to teach us about the evolving nature of such viruses and how to better prepare for future global outbreaks.

Read more….