Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Swine flu spreading in NYC: 2nd school closed after suspected outbreak

Updated Tuesday, April 28th 2009, 3:38 PM

A second Queens school was closed today after dozens of autistic students came down with suspected swine flu.

The new virus also showed up today in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and may have also infected a Manhattan Catholic school, Mayor Bloomberg said.

"So far, the swine flu here looks like the garden variety flu we see every year," the mayor said. "All patients we know of are recovering, with the overwhelming majority having had only mild illness."

A team from the City Health Department is at PS 177, a school of about 400 autistic kids in Fresh Meadows, to determine if it is swine flu that sickened 82 students there.

The school is less than two miles from St. Francis Prep, where Bloomberg said "hundreds" of students and teachers have mild symptoms and 28 tested positive for swine flu.

At least one of the sick students at PS 177 has siblings at St. Francis, Bloomberg said.

As the virus continued to spread through the city, a 2-year-old boy in the Bronx and a woman in Brooklyn were confirmed with the flu, officials said.

Neither had a connection to St. Francis but had friends or relatives who went to Mexico recently.

Six kids at Ascension School on W. 108th St in Manhattan have fever and officials are testing to see if it's swine flu. If so, the school will be closed, officials said.

The CDC says at least 68 Americans now have the sickness which has killed 149 people in Mexico.

None of the cases in the United States have been deemed life-threatening but officials warn that Americans must brace for deaths.

The White House will ask Congress for $1.5 billion to combat the flu.

Five states have outbreaks: New York with 45 patients, California 10, Texas 6, Kansas 2, and Ohio 1.

Several other states, including New Jersey, have suspected cases.

One new case was prompting worries at Disney World in Florida, where a Mexican tourist who had visited the Orlando attractions fell sick.

Media reports in Florida disagree on whether it was confirmed case of the pig flu or something more benign.

Hundreds of children and their parents could have been exposed there.

-snip-

hkennedy@nydailynews.com

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