This is what public health is good at. Quarantine, ensuring hygiene, and getting treatments out, using compulsion when necessary.

Panicking does not help. Scoring political points, concentrating on the economics or standing on one’s rights does not help. Nineteethn Century, pre-antibiotic methods: quarantine, ring immunisation or treatment (if available) DO help.

Nine days after swine flu was detected in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health believes the public are not at great risk of being infected, but it is remaining cautious.

The ministry said yesterday that there was no evidence swine flu had spread beyond people who had travelled to Mexico or the United States, or people who had been in close contact with them. A spokesman said the World Health Organisation’s pandemic danger signs – community outbreaks and unexplainable human-to-human transmission – were not evident in New Zealand.

Calls to the Healthline with swine flu queries had tapered off. However, health authorities were tightening controls to ensure the bug was contained and stamped out.

via No signs swine flu spreading – ministry – National – NZ Herald News.