'We have geared up our rapid response teams and directed our units of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) to upgrade their surveillance for the suspected symptoms in their respective districts,' he added.

Punjab has reported over 15 positive swine flu cases, including a Japanese tourist, who had come here to attend a business conference.

'Especially after the death in Pune, we have become doubly cautious and maintaining a strict vigil on the patients reporting swine flu symptoms. We have sufficient stocks of anti-viral medicines and trained staff to handle any kind of emergency,' said a Punjab health official here.

In June, 14 students of a private school in Jalandhar were quarantined in the civil hospital in that city after they showed swine flu symptoms. Seven of them tested positive for the infection.

These students were part of a group of 31 students and three teachers of the Guru Amar Das Public School that went on an educational trip to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US.