No positive Aussie swine flu test yet

No Australian has as yet tested positive for the potentially deadly swine flu but
one state health official says people should stock up on canned food just in case.
Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young says trips to the shops should be
cut back - putting her at odds with Australia's top health bureaucrat who is instead
calling for calm.
"If someone needs to be quarantined in their home ... if this pandemic arrives, if
this new strain arrives in Australia and circulates widely and causes problems, then
... people (need to consider) not doing the shopping as frequently as they might
normally," Dr Young told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.
"So maybe only doing it once a week to just decrease the numbers of people in our
shops."
When asked about the need to stockpile food, Australia's chief medical officer
Professor Jim Bishop was less alarmist, saying the nation did not need to live as if
it was facing a natural disaster.
"We're not at that stage," he told reporters in Canberra.
"I don't think there's any reason for alarm or anxiety in the community."
Prof Bishop added that no one had as yet tested positive for swine flu in Australia.
"At this point, we don't have anybody that's a probable case who's got to the first
hurdle of ... a type of influenza we're looking for," he said.
"There's no confirmed cases in Australia."
Prof Bishop said 136 people were being tested, but he said only 33 people transiting
Australia's international airports during the past 24 hours needed to be referred to
the health authorities.
"I don't think there's any reason for alarm or anxiety in the community," he said.
"We don't have a pandemic operating in Australia."
So far 12 people have died from the flu in Mexico, along with a child in the United
States.
Non-fatal cases of the virus have been found in 11 countries.
The World Health Organisation has raised its flu alert level to phase five out of
six, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent" but Prof Bishop said it was only a
pandemic because the virus was new.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said on Friday that sales of the antiviral drugs
Tamiflu and Relenza had increased three- or four-fold, possibly due to people taking
more precautions.
Australia holds 8.7 million courses of Tamiflu and Relenza but they have not been
released en masse because the country is not yet in a pandemic situation, she said.
The antiviral drugs are normally used to treat seasonal flu but have also been shown
to treat swine flu, the minister said.
"We need people to be respecting the importance of using those antivirals when
they're needed and not unnecessarily hoarding them if they are not needed," Ms Roxon
told reporters in Melbourne.
"We need to encourage the public to be responsible about this; we want everyone who
has the need for these drugs to be able to access them."
Prof Bishop also urged people not to stock up on the antiviral drugs unnecessarily.
"We really think people should act normally with respect to things like the Tamiflu
because really we need it for the normal seasonal influenza," he said.
"I think it's absolutely unfair for people to have the material if they are not
actually sick and need it."
Thermal-imaging scanners were installed at Australia's eight international airports
on Thursday on Prof Bishop's advice.
Prof Bishop said swine flu had a short two- to seven-day incubation period, which
meant sick passengers arriving at Australian airports were more likely to be
identified by health authorities.
Government public health advertisements, due to run this weekend, urge people who
have recently returned from overseas to seek medical advice if they have flu
symptoms such as fever, chills or a sore throat.
"Official reports by the World Health Organisation that a new strain of swine
influenza is spreading around the world has prompted Australian health authorities
to alert the public to the potential threat of an outbreak in Australia," the
message says.