Philly Toddler Possibly Had Swine Flu

Pennsylvania state officials said the state's first probable case of swine flu in Philadelphia involves a 2-year-old who fell ill on March 23, before the epidemic began.

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That child has since fully recovered, but the Philadelphia Department of Health is sending samples from the patient to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing.

The state Department of Health said Wednesday that the boy became sick on March 23, several weeks before the current outbreak was recognized in the United States.

The Philadelphia Department of Health only recently asked state health officials to review samples from the boy after concerns about swine flu surfaced.

"Because this child is no longer ill, further public health actions are not necessary at this time," said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Donald Schwarz. "The health department is actively searching for possible cases of swine flu. Even if this case is confirmed, it would not change our current approach to swine flu in Philadelphia."

State health officials also say a case of swine flu can't be confirmed until it is tested by a CDC lab in Atlanta.

"Based on CDC's case definition, we must consider this a probable case of the 2009 H1N1 influenza," said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Everette James. "However, I want to emphasize that many of the specimens from probable cases in other states sent to the CDC for additional testing have been found to be negative for 2009 H1N1."

The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level for the swine flu again. It has now reached "Phase5," which is the second-highest level and just one shy of a global pandemic.

Phase 5 indicates the flu is spreading between different countries.

There are confirmed cases in Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain, in addition to Mexico and the U.S.

By noon Thursday, there were 109 confirmed cases of swine flu across the U.S.