Queensland Health says it fully expects a case of swine flu to reach Australia.
Premier Anna Bligh on Tuesday met with health officials and the disaster management group, activating the state's pandemic plan which, if escalated, could result in border screening and the cancellation of major public events and school classes.
There have been 16 suspected cases of swine flu in Queensland, but six - including Qantas airline passengers from Los Angeles - have since been cleared.
On Tuesday afternoon authorities were also trying to contact eight people who arrived in Brisbane from Auckland after travelling on the same flight as nine New Zealand children thought to have swine flu.
The eight people were on the Air New Zealand flight from Los Angeles to Auckland and caught a connecting flight to Brisbane on Saturday.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said authorities were expecting to diagnose a case of the deadly flu.
"Of course we are. That's why we are putting all this into place. That's why we are meeting planes that are coming from the affected areas and we're talking to them and assessing what's going on," Dr Young told reporters in Brisbane.
"Until we declare our first case in Australia people can only bring it in from overseas ... Our biggest issue is planes because people can move so rapidly."
Dr Young said it was not necessary for people to don surgical masks unless they were sick.
Alyson Reynolds, 42, was spotted wearing a surgical mask as she walked down a Brisbane city street on Tuesday.
She said she had just returned from Los Angeles and had become ill after spending only four hours in Tijuana, Mexico, before returning to Australia.
Ms Reynolds returned on April 21, and both she and her son who was with her on the trip were ill, becoming lethargic, coughing and suffering from a temperature.
"(I've been told) to go home and stay in quarantine and don't stand this close to someone," she told AAP.
"They've (doctors) said I need to go home and wait for the results of the test later today."
Ms Reynolds said she was not worried that she might have swine flu and had not been given Tamiflu as a precaution.
Ms Bligh said Queensland had to be ready for "the prospect of this virus spreading to all countries and particularly here in Australia".
If a case of swine flu is confirmed - which can take some time due to the lack of testing equipment for the new disease - health authorities will go into response phase, followed by recovery phase.
Meanwhile, Queensland Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin said pork products were not affected, despite some countries moving to ban imports from the US.
"Pork products are safe to eat," Mr Mulherin said.
Queensland produces about a quarter of Australia's pork.
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