Cairo dormitory under swine flu quarantine

Five more residents of a sealed-off dormitory belonging to the American University in Cairo have tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus.

The discovery has led officials to extend a quarantine on the building to a week after an initial 24-hour period of isolation was imposed.

The five new case are all US citizens, like the first two cases discovered at the AUC dormitory on Sunday night.

The university said that none of them originally exhibited any flu symptoms.

The five new cases emerged after tests were carried out on residents following the outbreak.

A university spokesman said the four students and a faculty member were now being treated in hospital.

The dormitory on the island of Zamalek in central Cairo is now being guarded by police wearing protective masks.

The dormitory, which the Egyptian Health Ministry said houses 234 people including 110 students from 10 different countries, is now under quarantine for seven days.

The swine flu outbreak has also led the university to suspend classes until 14 June.

Egypt was the first African country to record a case swine flu which has killed 130 people, mostly in Mexico, and has affected thousands worldwide.

There are fears the airborne virus could spread quickly in its densely populated urban areas.

Recently the Egyptian authorities ordered the cull of the country's 300,000 pigs to combat an outbreak, although animal welfare groups said the slaughter would have little impact.

Egypt is already battling the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed an estimated 27 people there since 2006.

People travelling to Egypt are subjected to tests at its airports, with some suspected cases being kept in quarantine.