Sydney - A Perth man's swine-flu diagnosis brings to 18 the number of confirmed cases in Australia and marks the spread of the disease right across the continent. Officials said Monday that the Western Australian man tested positive for the new strain of the H1N1 virus on his return from North America.
All but two of the confirmed cases are people who recently returned from Mexico or North America. Some were almost recovered before they boarded flights and none has been hospitalized or required more than the standard anti-flu medication.
Last week, after a 15-year-old Melbourne boy became the third in his school to test positive, health authorities in Australia's second-largest city declared two schools closed for a week.
They also ordered that any child returning to the state of Victoria from a trip to Mexico, North America, Japan or any other jurisdiction where there were a significant number of swine-flu cases should be kept off school for a week.
