NEW DELHI, Jun 15 (PTI): Seven students in Jalandhar, who returned from the United States, tested positive for swine flu, taking the total number of people  affected by the virus across the country to 30 even as Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday asked travellers to defer their plans of going abroad till the disease was globally under control.

A day after a boy tested positive in Jalandhar, seven out of the 10 students who had accompanied him to the US also developed flu symptoms and tested positive for the disease, a senior health ministry official said adding, however, all of them are stable and responding to treatment.

The remaining 24 children, their family and social contacts and those sitting in proximity to them in the flight have been identified and put on chemoprophylaxis.

A Central Rapid Response Team has been deployed in Jalandhar since last night.

Reacting to the increase in the number of cases, Azad said that people, specially students, should defer travelling to flu-affected countries till the situation was under control.

"Till this disease is controlled globally, I would like to request young people from educational institutions going abroad that they can suspend their visits for the time being," he said adding "they can go after 2-3 months".