Flu virus hits South Pacific atolls

New Zealand health officials have despatched medical aid to the Tokelau islands, a tiny isolated cluster of atolls in the South Pacific, to try to stem a growing flu outbreak.So far 10 per cent of the 1,500 population on the New Zealand island territory have reportedly fallen sick, most of them children.The Tokelau islands are made up of three tiny atolls located about 500km north of Samoa, and some 4,000km from New Zealand's capital, Wellington.The flu epidemic has forced schools to close and public gatherings to be cancelled, officials in Wellington said on Wednesday.Michael Flyger, a spokesman for New Zealand's health ministry, said latest figures showed that nearly 150 people have been reported sick, but he said the outbreak was not yet at "crisis point".He told the Associated Press that it was "very, very unlikely" that the unknown flu strain had originated from the atolls.