Fiji's health officials were monitoring a traveler suspected of being infected by the swine flu virus while another left for New Zealand.

The suspect is under close surveillance at Lautoka Hospital, said Fiji's Ministry of Health officials on Thursday.

Officials said Fiji's first suspected swine flu case, who arrived in Fiji resort city of Nadi from New Zealand on April 26, has shown no symptoms of the disease so far.

The New Zealand authorities alerted the Fiji government about the alleged case but it is unclear why the traveler was allowed through.

Meanwhile, the health officials from Suva have flown to Nadi to monitor the situation.

The suspected case of swine influenza was located at Lautoka by the Western Health team on Wednesday.

The other suspected case returned to New Zealand by the time local authorities were notified.

"The incident has indicated the need for every traveler returning from affected countries to quickly contact the appropriate health authorities if they have any flu-like symptoms i.e. fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, etc, within the seven days of their arrival," said the Ministry of Health.

The human swine influenza A (H1N1) outbreak is evolving rapidly.

As of Wednesday, nine countries have officially reported cases of the infection.

New Zealand confirmed 16 swine flu cases on Thursday, increasing the likelihood that the infection could spread to the Pacific Island countries and territories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) are working to support countries like Fijiin responding quickly and efficiently to this public health threat.

The priority is to ensure that countries' surveillance systems are working, as well as their laboratory testing procedures to detect any suspected cases.

"We have asked all Pacific countries and territories to immediately notify WHO if they identify any suspected cases of the swine flu as requested by the International Health Regulations," said Jacob Kool, Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization Office for the South Pacific.

"They are also asked to report to us twice a week on the total number of influenza cases," he added.

The health authorities in all Pacific countries were initially alerted about the situation on April 25.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)