Eight more swine flu cases in N.B.

Eight new cases of the swine flu have been confirmed in New Brunswick since Monday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the province to 41.

Dr. Paul Van Buynder, the province’s deputy chief medical officer of health, said Thursday that's probably only two per cent of the number of people who are actually infected with the virus, also known as H1N1 influenza.

The true number of infections could be higher because many of those with the virus aren’t sick enough to see a doctor, he said. 

"The 41 cases in New Brunswick tells me that, at the moment, that’s the degree of transmission that’s produced severe disease. The information coming from the southern States is that about one to two per cent exposed to the pandemic at the moment are ending up in hospital," Buynder said.

"It probably means that the number of real cases in New Brunswick is in the order of many hundreds, at least at the moment."

So far, only one New Brunswick resident sick with the swine flu has required hospitalization.

Buynder said he expects about 1 in 5 New Brunswickers will contract swine flu during the upcoming flu season.

The development of the Canadian supply of vaccine is on schedule, he said, and doctors and health care workers will be the first to be vaccinated.

As of Monday, the province has the capacity to complete all stages of testing for the H1N1 virus at the pandemic lab at the Dr. Georges L. Dumont Regional Hospital in Moncton, officials said.

Previously, samples had to be sent to the national lab in Winnipeg for confirmation.