Wellington - New Zealand added a patient to its list of confirmed swine-flu cases, bringing its total to five, while another 12 suspected cases have tested positive for influenza A, a type of the virus associated with the H1N1 wine-flu strain, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

One of the probable cases listed Sunday, a college student from Hastings, was moved to the confirmed list after samples tested by the National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Diseases were positive for H1N1.

The student was part of a group from the Lindisfarne College orchestra that was placed in isolation after three boys developed flu symptoms on their return from a trip to California.

Health officials said there were 69 suspected cases of people who developed symptoms of influenza within seven days of being in North America or were in close contact with infected people.

This was 20 fewer than Sunday, and officials said the numbers would continue to fluctuate as a result of more suspected cases being found or suspected cases being ruled out.

The ministry said there was no evidence of the disease being spread within New Zealand. All the confirmed and probable cases have been people who recently returned from Mexico or the United States, the two countries reporting the most swine-flu infections, or who had been in close contact of a traveller patient. (dpa)