TWO cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Dorset, and a third person is undergoing tests at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

The two people confirmed with the virus are holidaymakers in the Weymouth area.

NHS Dorset said everyone who has been in close contact with them has been identified and given the retro-viral Tamiflu.

In Bournemouth, swabs have been sent off to a laboratory after a female patient who had been to Mexico came to the emergency department.

The results of the tests are expected early next week and the NHS said there is currently no need for any special measures. There is no connection with the Weymouth cases.

A Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals spokesman said: “A female attended with very mild flu symptoms.

“As the patient had visited Mexico recently, she has been tested for swine flu, the results of which we are waiting for.”

The NHS has already been assessing and testing suspected cases in Dorset, mainly referred by their GPs.

Dr Adrian Dawson, director of public health for Bournemouth and Poole, said: “People have coughs and colds all the time and the local NHS is rightly taking every precaution to identify possible cases. “If there is a case in the local area, the NHS is well prepared to deal with that.”

The NHS is urging people not to visit GPs or hospitals if they have the flu-like symptoms, but to contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

A Department of Health spokesman said UK cases have been generally mild, but are severe in a small minority of cases.

A 38-year-old woman from Renfrewshire in Scotland recently became the first confirmed UK swine flu fatality, but had underlying health problems.

Yesterday’s figures show that 1,759 people across the country have been confirmed with the strain.

NHS advice is for people to use tissues and dispose of them properly, maintain good hygiene on your person and on surfaces, and to stay at home if you are sick.

A Health Protection Agency spokesman said: “Over the course of the last few months, hundreds of people have been tested in the south west from various places and there are 23 confirmed cases.”