New Orleans, Louisiana, Mayor Ray Nagin, who was quarantined in China after possible exposure to the H1N1 virus, was released Wednesday to continue an economic development trip.

Nagin told CNN he had left the country in the morning and was headed to Australia.

The mayor had been quarantined since Sunday after flying on a plane that also carried a passenger who is being treated
for symptoms suspected to be from the virus, commonly known as swine flu, his staff said.

Ceeon Quiett, the mayor’s director of communications, told CNN that Nagin had been sitting beside a passenger who “exhibited the symptoms of H1N1,” but Nagin showed no signs of illness.

Ceeon Quiett, the mayor’s director of communications, told CNN that Nagin had been sitting beside a passenger who “exhibited the symptoms of H1N1,” but Nagin showed no signs of illness.

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