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WELLINGTON - At least three people have been confirmed as New Zealand's first swine flu cases but a total of 10 are assumed to have caught the virus, Health Minister Tony Ryall said Tuesday.
"Unfortunately tonight we can confirm New Zealanders have tested positive to swine flu," Ryall told a press conference.
The nine students and one teacher, who authorities said were recovering from the virus, were among a group of 25 people from an Auckland high school who returned from Mexico on Saturday.
"On the basis of these results, we are assuming that all of the people in the group who had tested positive for influenza A have swine flu," Director of Public Health, Mark Jacobs, said in a statement.
"As a result, we are continuing with the current treatment which has been based on this assumption."
The 10 were understood to be recovering at home, he added.
All of them would continue treatment with the anti-flu medication Tamiflu and it was expected they would remain in isolation at home, completing 72 hours of treatment before being given the all clear.
- AFP/ir
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