10 more Nevada swine flu cases; school closed

RENO " Ten new cases of swine flu were confirmed Thursday in Nevada, including eight more students at a Sparks middle school that has been closed through Memorial Day to help prevent the illness from spreading.

Health officials said Washoe County now has had 20 confirmed cases of swine flu, while the state's total has been pushed to 48.

Crews were using a disinfectant solution to wash down all surfaces at Mendive Middle School, where 13 students have been sickened by the H1N1 virus. It's the only school in Nevada to have been closed because of the flu.

One student had been hospitalized but was discharged Thursday, Washoe County District Health Department spokeswoman Judy Davis said.

The new cases confirmed Thursday also included a child younger than school age and an adult who has been hospitalized, but Davis said she had no information on the adult's condition.

Davis said none of the other students has been hospitalized but she had no information on their conditions.

The suburban Sparks school with more than 900 seventh- and eight-graders was closed Wednesday night after five cases were confirmed there. It is scheduled to reopen Tuesday.

Martha Framsted, spokeswoman for the Nevada State Health Division, said that besides the 20 confirmed cases in Washoe County, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has confirmed 25 cases in Clark County, two in Carson City and one in Lyon County. Two more cases are considered "probable" swine flu.

"What the CDC has said all along, when you look you find," Framsted said.

School district officials disclosed late Thursday that one of the new cases reported on Wednesday was a student who attends Billinghurst Middle School in Reno.

School Superintendent Paul Dugan said that student has not attended school all this week and is recovering at home.

"There are major differences between the two situations that clearly indicate they should be treated differently," Dugan said in explaining why Billinghurst would remain open.

Mendive had more than 100 absences on Monday due to medical reasons, nearly two thirds of those reporting flu-like symptoms, he said. By contrast, he said Billinghurst's attendance rates have been within normal rates with just the lone confirmed case of the virus.

"I think this reinforces our need to evaluate each of these incidents on a case-by-case basis and to continue to work closely with the health department to make decisions in the best interest of our students, staff and the community's public health," Dugan said.

Swine flu has sickened more than 11,000 people in 41 countries and killed 85, according to the World Health Organization, whose figures often trail those of individual countries. Mexico has reported 75 deaths, the U.S. 10, and one in both Canada and Costa Rica.

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Associated Press writer Sandra Chereb contributed to this report.