The Otago District Health Board's swine flu response involves "significant resource implications" and chief executive Brian Rousseau said he would not want it to continue much longer.
But the Ministry of Health advised yesterday it would be premature to scale down the response.
Mr Rousseau told the board at its meeting this week it needed a signal as to how much longer it would have to maintain its response at the "co-ordinated incident management structure" level used to handle large-scale events.
"At what point do we stand down on this?"Mr Rousseau was not available yesterday to respond to questions about the cost to the board in time and money or to comment on the ministry's stance.
Ministry of Health national co-ordinator of emergency planning Steve Brazier, replying by email to questions raised by the Otago Daily Times, said the situation continued to evolve and New Zealand officials were ready for any escalation in the domestic or international swine flu situation.
"Continued vigilance by the health sector and the public is important."
New Zealand had been fortunate there had been no evidence of community transmission of the illness to date, he said.
Since the response to the influenza A (H1N1) virus began on April 27, three suspected cases and 41 contacts of suspected cases have been managed in Otago and Southland.
Otago and Southland medical officer of health Dr Marion Poore said two of the suspected cases had tested negative for the virus and the results for the third were awaited. One suspected case was still in isolation and two contacts of suspected cases were in quarantine.
Planning was continuing on what would be necessary if the boards needed to set up community-based assessment centres to provide relief and support for medical centres and hospitals.
Surveillance for increased levels of flu in communities, nurse support at international flights, and management of suspected cases and close contacts continued, Dr Poore said.
• Late yesterday, New Zealand had 75 suspected cases and 278 people in isolation or quarantine. The decrease is due to the fact more people have completed the 72-hour quarantine or isolation period.
