U.S. Swine Flu Cases Grow To 91 - One Infant Death

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has risen to 91 and is spread across 10 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

One of those cases was fatal, but the majority are not severe, said Dr. Richard Besser, acting CDC chief. Five patients have been hospitalized, including the 22-month-old child who died Monday in Texas, he said.

The toddler was a Mexican citizen who had gone to Houston, Texas, for treatment, said Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services.

At a news conference unrelated to the health issue, President Obama said, "My thoughts and prayers and deepest condolences go out to the family as well as [to] those who are ill and recovering from this flu."

Obama said, "This is obviously a serious situation -- serious enough to take the utmost precautions."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are closely monitoring the swine flu outbreak, Obama said.

The president urged local health officials to be vigilant about identifying and reporting suspected cases.

Places such as schools should consider closing temporarily if any illness surfaces there, he said, and parents should consider in advance how children at home will be cared for. Sending a child to a day-care facility may not be the best solution, he said.

Obama said he requested $1.5 billion in emergency funding from Congress on Tuesday if the outbreak becomes more widespread.

The government is releasing nearly 13 million doses of antiviral medications to stem the spread of swine flu, Napolitano said Wednesday.

"The national stockpile has 50 million courses, and we are releasing 25 percent of the state portion already," Napolitano told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which convened to discuss the federal response to the swine flu outbreak.

A U.S. Marine stationed in Southern California has been tested to see if he has swine flu, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The Marine and his roommate, who isn't ill, have been quarantined at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms while awaiting test results, expected within 48 hours, said Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine Corps commandant.

An official at the World Health Organization said Wednesday that his agency has confirmed 114 cases of swine flu worldwide.

However, that number does not include the additional U.S. cases. The WHO was still listing 64 swine flu cases for the United States.

"It's clear that the virus is spreading, and we don't see it slowing down at this point," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO, at a news conference. He said the most severe cases are in Mexico; other countries have milder cases so far. iReport.com: "Regular life" in Mexico with masks

Earlier Wednesday, the CDC's Besser confirmed the child's death.

"A child has died from the H1N1 virus," he said. "As a parent and a pediatrician, my heart goes out to the family."

He added, "We have expected that over time we would see deaths from this infection, and that's what we're finding."

Sixteen of the confirmed swine flu cases in the United States have been reported in Texas, and 51 in New York, according to the CDC. California has 14 confirmed cases, the agency said.

The CDC is "taking aggressive action to try and limit the impact of this on our communities" but isn't changing its recommendations as a result of the confirmed swine flu death, Besser said.

"I expect we'll see more cases," he said. "And as we do, we'll learn more about this, and if there needs to be more stringent or less stringent recommendations, we'll be making those."

Of the confirmed cases worldwide, there have been seven other confirmed swine flu deaths, all in Mexico.

"Given what we've seen in Mexico, we have expected that we would see more severe infections and would see deaths," Besser said.

However, he stressed that people should maintain their perspective on the swine flu outbreak.

"Seasonal flu each year causes tens of thousands of deaths in this country -- on average, about 36,000 deaths," Besser said. "And so this flu virus in the United States, as we're looking at it, is not acting very differently from what we saw during the flu season."