Wollongong Hospital says it is well prepared to deal with the deadly swine flu that has
claimed scores of lives and is spreading panic across the world.
Wollongong Hospital's director of emergency Dr Tom Carrigan said the hospital was receiving daily briefings from NSW Health and that triage nurses were on high alert to identify any potential carriers.
Five people with suspected swine flu, including two children, are being tested in NSW - four in Sydney and one on the Central Coast.
LATEST NEWS: Queensland activates pandemic plan Swine flue facts: What is it? How do people become infected? VIDEO: Swine flu heading to AustraliaNew Zealand authorities believe it is likely 10 students who recently returned from Mexico have contracted the disease. Cases have been confirmed in the United States, with other suspected cases in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Australia's chief medical officer Jim Bishop said it was inevitable swine flu would reach our shores.
More than 100 people have died in Mexico from the new flu strain, believed to have been created when human and bird flu viruses infected pigs and became mixed.
The World Health Organisation fears the disease could further mutate, becoming even more deadly to humans.
A professor of infectious diseases at the University of NSW, Raina MacIntyre, said the best protection for Australians would be to wear potentially life-saving face masks.
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