WA health officials: 6 probable swine flu cases

[BigBearJohn]

WA health officials: 6 probable swine flu cases
By RORY MARSHALL

Associated Press Writer

Health officials have reported six probable cases of swine flu in Washington state.

Three of the cases are in King County, which includes Seattle, two are in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, and one is in Spokane County in northeast Washington.

Officials told a Wednesday night news conference that samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for formal confirmation.

Dr. David Fleming, director and health officer for Public Health-Seattle & King County, said he expects the region will see more infections of the swine flu H1N1 virus, which has been confirmed or suspected in dozens of patients in at least a dozen other states and several foreign countries.

The King County cases involve an 11-year-old Seattle boy, who officials say was hospitalized and is improving; a 27-year-old Seattle man; and a 33-year-old Seattle woman who is a physician, and whose husband and two children have also shown symptoms. They were not hospitalized and are improving.

The Snohomish County cases are a 6-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman. Additional details on them were not immediately available.

The Spokane case involves a man in his 40s who recently traveled to California, the Spokesman-Review reported.

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