Passengers quarantined

More than 2,000 cruise ship passengers have been asked to quarantine themselves for a week after two Australian children aboard the liner tested positive for swine flu.

"We are all requesting that all people onboard this ship remain in quarantine for seven days," New South Wales chief health officer Kerry Chant told reporters after the Pacific Dawn arrived in Sydney.

Two five-year-old children who arrived in Sydney onboard the ship on Monday after a South Pacific cruise tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus, bringing Australia's total of reported cases to 23.