State health lab confirms one new case of swine flu

Missouri health officials confirmed Wednesday that a St. Louis County teenager had contracted the same strain of swine flu that has infected at least 642 people nationwide, according to a news release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The illness is the 13th confirmed or probable case of the H1N1 virus found in Missouri.

The teenage boy's case was the only positive result from specimens tested Wednesday at the State Public Health Laboratory in Jefferson City. The specimens were sent from throughout the state by doctors whose patients reported flu-like symptoms.

The first St. Louis-area case was confirmed Tuesday and involved a St. Charles County man in his 20s who had recently traveled to South America and Texas. Before falling ill, the man also had socialized with three professional colleagues from Mexico, where the new virus first emerged.

Three other cases, all from the Kansas City area, were also confirmed Tuesday. Two were Platte County children who attended the same in-home child care center where three other children are considered probable victims of swine flu. Missouri's first confirmed case of swine flu was the mother of two of those children.

The fourth case was a Kansas City boy. Information on how he may have been exposed was not available Wednesday.

In addition, a father and son from Howard County, who previously were listed as probable cases of swine flu, were confirmed Wednesday. They fell ill after returning from Mexico.

The results of Wednesday's tests bring the number of confirmed cases in Missouri to nine. Four other cases involving the three children in Platte County and a child in eastern Jackson County are still considered probable.