Wellington - New Zealand has 13 confirmed cases of swine flu and 104 suspected cases, health officials said Thursday as the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second-highest level.

Health Minister Tony Ryall told a news conference that New Zealand was working under a policy of "contain and mitigate" - trying to contain the virus by monitoring the 10,000 people who arrive at airports from North America each week, and isolating suspected patients and treating them with Tamiflu antiviral medicine.

Wellington - New Zealand's central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate Thursday by half a per cent to 2.5 per cent, its seventh cut since July.

The so-called official cash rate (OCR) was already at its lowest mark since it was introduced in 1999 and Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard signalled that he could keep it at or below the current level until late 2010.

"We consider it appropriate to provide further policy stimulus to the economy," he said. "The OCR could still move modestly lower over the coming quarters."

Wellington - The number of swine flu victims in New Zealand grew to 14 on Wednesday, but health authorities said all were recovering well and there was no need to panic.

Officials said there were 31 suspected cases in the country and another 179 people who may have been in contact with those affected were in voluntary isolation around the country and had been offered a course of Tamiflu antiviral medication.

Wellington - Ten swine flu cases were confirmed Tuesday in New Zealand as public health authorities throughout the Asia-Pacific region went on high alert to contain the outbreak. New Zealand was the sixth country to report confirmed cases of the swine flu H1N1 virus, which broke out in Mexico and has now spread to the United States, Spain, Canada, Britain and Israel.

Thailand and South Korea reported suspected cases of the mutated virus.

Wellington, Apr 28 : A new study has revealed that young business owners and managers are more likely to suffer from work-related stress than their older colleagues.

The survey carried out by community well being company WellbeingWorks on 58 Marlborough business owners, managers and self-employed people, showed those aged between 26 and 45 identified four times the amount of stress their older counterparts, aged between 46 and 65, did.

Wellington  - Nearly 70 New Zealanders may have contracted swine flu following recent visits to Mexico or the United States, health officials announced Tuesday.

Another 56 people who had developed flu-like symptoms were being tested to see if they had the influenza A strain, which has been linked with the outbreak of swine flu, H1N1, that the World Health Organization said was evolving rapidly.