By Chris Paschenko
The Daily News

Published May 8, 2009
LEAGUE CITY — County health officials revealed Thursday a second probable case of swine flu.

The Galveston County cases were reported on consecutive days in League City.

A 35-year-old man became sick but wasn’t hospitalized, didn’t attend social gatherings and has since fully recovered, said Kurt Koopmann, a spokesman for the Galveston County Health District.

Wednesday, the health district reported a girl, 15, was the county’s first probable case of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu. The girl, who has since recovered, also didn’t require hospitalization and didn’t attend school and social events while she was ill.

Koopmann said there are no indications the two cases were related.

“The identification of these probable cases is not a surprise, given what we know about the virus and its spread in Texas and neighboring counties,” said Dr. Mark Guidry, chief executive officer of the health district. “Additional cases are expected until the virus runs its course in this phase. A second phase may occur later in the year or during the regular flu season. Hopefully, a vaccine will be available at that time.”

The two probable cases were not among the 180 test samples submitted so far by Mainland Medical Center, the University of Texas Medical Branch or 4C’s clinics, Koopmann said. Only 29 of the 180 tests have been returned, but all 29 were negative for the virus, Koopmann said.

It is unknown how many private doctors have sent samples for testing because they are required only to notify the health district with the results, Koopmann said.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, 896 cases of swine flu had been confirmed nationwide, including 91 in Texas. Two deaths have been reported, both in Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.