At least eight students of a non- public school in New York City were found to have probable human swine influenza, New York health officials said on Saturday.
More than 100 students at the school in the New York City borough of Queens were sick this week with fever and other flu- like symptoms, the New York City Health Department said in a press release.
All students have had mild symptoms, and none has been hospitalized.
The New York City Health Department's Public Health Laboratory has completed preliminary viral testing on samples from nine affected students. Eight of the nine tests are positive Influenza A.
Because they do not match H1 and H3 human subtypes of influenza A by available testing methods, they are considered probable cases of swine flu.
The samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for confirmatory testing. Results of those tests are expected on Sunday.
The New York City Health Department said it's working closely with the CDC to assess the possibility of the spread of swine flu.
At least 62 people were killed by a flu-like illness in Mexico. Some cases have been confirmed as swine influenza A/H1N1. In southeastern America, seven confirmed human cases of swine flu were reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Saturday that the current flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States " constitutes a public health emergency of international concern."
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2009)
