Swine flu hits cruise ship passengers

More than 2,000 cruise ship passengers have been asked to quarantine themselves for a week after two Australian children aboard the liner tested positive for swine flu.      

"We are all requesting that all people onboard this ship remain in quarantine for seven days," New South Wales chief health officer Kerry Chant told reporters after the Pacific Dawn arrived in Sydney.      

Two five-year-old children who arrived in Sydney onboard the ship yesterday after a South Pacific cruise tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus, bringing Australia's total of reported cases to 23.      

Passengers were asked to remain in their homes or hotels.      

The ship's departure for its next cruise, with a fresh contingent of guests, was delayed until health authorities gave it the go ahead, with passengers saying they would rather be inconvenienced than exposed to the flu.      

"We'd be complaining if we all got sick, and the recycling air conditioning doesn't help flu and all the rest of it," one passenger told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.       

A spokeswoman for Carnival Australia, owners of the Pacific Dawn, said the ship sailed yesterday night after receiving the all-clear from New South Wales health officials.