Seven Bahraini students - five girls and two boys - all aged 17, have tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus, the Health Ministry has said.

They were among 13 secondary school students who returned from the US on Saturday night, said public health director Dr Khairya Moosa.

The students reported to health centres at Budaiya, A'Ali, East Riffa and the National Bank of Bahrain Health Centre in Arad, complaining of high fever, severe body ache, headache and sore throat, she said.

"The health centres reported the seven cases at different times and when all reports were compiled, we realised they were from the same group which had been in the US for 10 months on a student exchange programme sponsored by the Education Ministry."

She said when the results were available at 8 pm and they were confirmed as positive, all of them were moved to the isolation ward at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

"Six others from the same group tested negative and have been put on a course of Tamiflu as a precaution."

She said all those in close contact with the seven affected students, including their family members, had also been given Tamiflu.

Dr Moosa said the ministry was liaising with Gulf Air to try and identify other passengers on the same flight.

A 21-year-old Bahraini student had tested positive for the virus last month after he returned from a trip to New York. He was treated at the SMC and released a week later.

In another news, Bahrain's National Committee for Disaster Management last night held an emergency meeting and decided to set up a team to follow up on new swine flu cases. – TradeArabia News Service