U.S. health officials confirm Mo. swine flu case

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri now has one confirmed case of swine flu and three probable cases, the latest involving two members of a family who recently traveled to Mexico, the state health department reported Friday night.

Earlier Friday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta announced Missouri's first confirmed case -- a 30-year-old woman from Platte County in the Kansas City area who recently returned from Mexico.

The woman has received anti-viral medicine, has not needed hospital treatment and is recovering well, the state Department of Health and Senior Services said in a written statement.

Swine flu is also suspected in a 19-year-old Kansas City man who was hospitalized in the Omaha area after traveling to Nebraska for treatment of another health condition.

The two newest probable cases were found during tests of specimens sent to the State Public Health Laboratory by doctors whose patients reported flulike symptoms, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said in a statement Friday night.

Both patients are members of a central Missouri family who recently visited Mexico, the department said. No additional information about the family was released.

Specimens from the two patients will be sent to the CDC for tests that will definitively confirm or rule out the disease.

Since swine flu was first confirmed in the U.S. in April, Missouri health officials have urged doctors to send the state lab samples from any patients with flu-like symptoms.

Health Department spokesman Kit Wagar said the state lab tested more than a couple of dozen other samples Friday and that all were negative.

Gov. Jay Nixon has said Missouri's local health agencies and state officials are following the state plan for dealing with a flu outbreak. The health department said it has distributed medical supplies and anti-viral medications to every county in the state.

On Thursday, Mary Jo Everhart, director of the Platte County Health Department, said officials had notified 40 to 50 people who had been in contact with the Platte County woman

Symptoms of the illness include a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

On the Net

* CDC: www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

* Mo. Department of Health: www.dhss.mo.gov/BT--Response/--SwineFlu09.html