KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri health officials say four more probable cases of swine flu have been discovered in the Kansas City metropolitan area, including three in northern Platte County linked to an in-home day care center.
The Department of Health and Senior Services said Sunday the new cases were found during testing at the state’s Public Health Laboratory of specimens sent to the lab by doctors whose patients showed symptoms of the illness. With the new cases, Missouri now has two confirmed to be swine flu and six that are probable.
Health department spokesman Kit Wagar said the Platte County cases are directly linked to the state’s first confirmed case, a woman in her 30s who lives in that county and is recovering well.
“They were all connected to the first case,” Wagar said Sunday night. “A Platte County woman was first. Two are her children who go to the day care, and the third is another kid in the day care. Because it’s an in-home day care, fairly small ... it was closed to avoid exposing any other kids to the virus.”
The day care will remain closed for seven days, he said.
He said the fourth probable case in the Kansas City area is a child in eastern Jackson County, but the health department doesn’t believe there is any connection with the Platte County cases.
