S. Korea testing 5 suspected swine flu cases

(ATTN: ADDS updated info in 2, 6 para)
SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean health authorities said Wednesday that
they are conducting tests on five more suspected cases of swine flu amid a
heightening alert against the deadly virus that is rapidly spreading across the
globe.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement
that the five individuals being tested, including a 15-month-old baby, recently
returned from trips to Mexico or the United States and showed flu-like symptoms
such as coughing and fever.
Earlier, it said nine additional people had voluntarily gone to local clinics for
testing, with four of them testing negative for the influenza virus.
On Tuesday, the disease control center said that a 51-year-old woman had been
quarantined for treatment at a state-designated hospital after being identified
as the nation's first probable case of swine flu. She is reportedly in stable
condition.
Patients are identified as "probable" when they test positive for type-A
influenza that regularly causes outbreaks among pigs and is transmittable to
humans, but negative for human variants of the virus.
Testing has been completed on 125 out of 338 people who might have had contact
with the woman, either on an airplane or at her workplace, for possible secondary
infections. None of them showed similar symptoms, health officials said.
The report on the suspected patients comes as governments worldwide are
struggling to control the spread of the highly infectious virus, which has
reportedly killed over 150 people in Mexico alone.
Cases have also been reported in the United States, Canada and some European
countries, according to media reports, raising concerns that the virus is
spreading at a faster-than-expected pace.
The KCDC raised its alert level Tuesday by one notch to "Yellow" from the
previous "Blue," a move aimed at intensifying cooperation to stem the outbreak of
swine influenza.
As of early Wednesday, a total of 236 people worldwide had been confirmed to be
infected with the virus, with around 2,500 suspected cases being reported. The
death toll currently stands at 152, all in Mexico, according to the latest
estimate by the center.
kokobj@yna.co.kr