PNG minister may have swine flu

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Swine flu infections have spread across the Pacific

Papua New Guinea's health minister, Sasa Zibe, is currently being tested for swine flu.

He said it would not be a bad thing if he contracted the respiratory disease because he could tell the country what it was like to be infected.

He added that it was his duty as a minister to experience the virus so his South Pacific government could be prepared for any outbreak.

Papua New Guinea has just one confirmed case of swine influenza.

Mr Zibe believes he may have caught the H1N1 virus at a ministerial conference in neighbouring Australia, where there are now more 2,800 infections.

He has put himself into isolation while his samples are examined.

Across the South Pacific a handful of swine flu infections have been confirmed in Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa, although health officials in the region have stressed that in the majority of cases, patients have only suffered a mild illness.

In New Zealand, more than 400 people have contracted the respiratory condition.