Australian health officials have identified the country's first case of swine flu which is resistant to the antiviral drug, Tamiflu. They added that the public was not at risk.

It was reported that the perth patient initially responded well to the drug but later his condition became critical when the strain developed further. The case was isolated which is why it does not pose a threat to the public. He has been treated with another antiviral and is no longer infectious, althhough his condition remains critical.

Chief health officer Tarun Weeramanthri said, "Experience from overseas shows us that these cases tend to be confined to individual patients and it is not uncommon for it to occur in people who have weakened immune systems."

Apart from Australia, there have been 13 cases of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu across the globe.

There have been 169 deaths among 36,000 swine flu cases in Australia with the country's emergence from southern hemisphere winter.

The government has ordered 20 million shots of the vaccine which is still being developed and should be available by October. It comes to almost one per person.