Officials say first US swine flu death visited Brownsville from Mexico City

HOUSTON (AP) - The first confirmed death from swine flu in the United States is a toddler from Mexico City who died in Houston, Texas health officials said Wednesday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said the boy had underlying health problems when he traveled to Texas on April 4 to visit relatives in Brownsville. He developed a fever and other flu symptoms on April 8 and was admitted to a Brownsville hospital five days later, Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said.

The boy was transferred April 14 to a hospital in Houston, where local officials said he died Monday night. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the death earlier Wednesday.

The child died of complications from the swine flu.

"He died of pneumonia," Cascos said.

The toddler was about 2 years old. Houston officials said he was 23 months old, but state officials said he was 22 months old and could not immediately explain the discrepancy.

State health officials declined to identify the boy or his family, citing privacy concerns, medical confidentiality and "the absence of an obvious health threat from the boy to the public at large."

State health officials said the boy would not have been infectious when he flew from Mexico City to Matamoros. None of his close contacts have developed symptoms.

Health officials in Brownsville are trying to trace his family's trip to find out how long they were in the area, who they visited and how many people were in the group, Cascos said.

The boy's family members "are healthy and well," said Dr. David Persse, Houston's health director, during a news conference Wednesday.

Stay with www.BrownsvilleHerald.com for continued updates on this developing story.