Australia records second H1N1 flu case
(Updates with more details, background)
SYDNEY, May 20, (Reuters) - Australia recorded its second confirmed case of the new H1N1 flu strain on Wednesday, with a 9-year-old boy testing positive after returning from Los Angeles on May 12, a health official said.
"The boy is recovering at home as he was not ill enough to be hospitalised," Victoria state Health Minister Daniel Andrews said in a statement.
"The child's symptoms appeared on Monday and based on what we know about this form of influenza, agencies do believe he was not infectious when he returned to Australia on May 12," he said.
Australia's first case of "swine flu" was confirmed earlier in May, when a woman tested positive after returning from Los Angeles. She has since recovered.
The new strain of H1N1 has killed 81 people and been confirmed in nearly 10,000 people globally.
The vast majority of H1N1 cases are in Mexico and the United States, but the spread of the disease to about 40 countries led the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic was imminent at the end of April.
Its pandemic alert level is now 5 on a 6-level scale. (Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson)
