Posted by Brie Zeltner/Plain Dealer Reporter May 07, 2009 23:24PM
Two people in Westlake most likely have H1N1, the swine flu virus, Cuyahoga County health officials said Tuesday.
A 41-year-old woman and a 9-year-old child have been deemed "probable" cases by the Ohio Health Department laboratories, and their cultures have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation testing.
Both are at home and recovering well. Officials would not say if the two were related.
About 99 percent of probable cases have come back positive for H1N1, said Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner Terry Allan, so they are likely to be confirmed as swine flu.
There were six confirmed cases of the disease in Ohio as of Thursday -- three in Franklin County and one each in Lorain, Holmes and Portage counties. The CDC reported a total of 896 cases nationwide Thursday morning. Two people with underlying health problems have died from the disease in Texas.
Westlake city schools announced on the district's Web site and in phone messages to parents Wednesday that schools would remain open.
"There is no cause for school closure at this time, per CDC guidelines," Allan said.
"We think the public is now very well-educated and understands that this is generally a mild disease."
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