Confirmed swine flu cases rise to 9 in N.B.

New Brunswick's Health Department reported five more people with swine flu in the province on Thursday.

The new cases, which were confirmed in the last two days, bring the total number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus since the outbreak began in April to nine.

Health officials confirmed that one case involves a woman in her 50s from the Moncton area. Details on the locations of the other four cases were not available Thursday.

All confirmed swine flu cases in the province have been mild.

Officials said despite the new confirmed cases, there is no need for residents in the province to stop their normal activities. However, they have reminded everyone to continue with preventative measures such as hand-washing to stop the spread of the flu virus.

New Brunswick’s deputy chief medical officer of health, Dr. Paul Van Buynder, said the fact that swine flu is classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization has changed how the department monitors its spread.

"There is no longer a benefit in aggressive case finding, doing lots of testing to try and corral cases to prevent transmission," Van Buynder said on Thursday. "Transmission is happening throughout the world at the moment," he said.

Dr. Eilish Cleary, the province's chief medical officer of health, said people who have mild symptoms should stay home. However, Cleary said, they do not need to be tested for the H1N1 virus.

"And that, in fact, is the way … we report influenza, seasonal influenza, so the focus is not on knowing every single case in the community," Cleary said.

She said the Health Department will still receive reports on severe cases as well as localized outbreaks.

People with weakened immune systems should still see their doctors and be tested if they have flu symptoms.

Health officials in the province have said they expect to see more cases in the province in the coming months.