15 Jul 2009

Tonga ups campaign as two cases of swine flu are confirmed

3:07 pm on 15 July 2009

Tonga's ministry of health says it's raising public awareness about swine flu after two cases were confirmed.

Two women, one from Australia visiting family in Tonga, and the other a local resident, have both been successfully treated.

The director of public health, Dr Malakai 'Ake, says the local woman seems to have had contact with people from overseas who might have had the virus.

Dr Ake says it's hard to differentiate between normal flu and swine flu and it's likely that there're more cases out there.

"We've got influenza A, influenza B as well as swine flu here. The point is that the symptoms are the same, we can't differentiate which one is which one unless we do the testing."

Malakai 'Ake says Tonga has about 3,000 doses of the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu.