NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City has 45 confirmed or likely cases of swine flu and that number is likely to rise as testing of more than 100 sick students continued, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday.
The outbreak of swine flu appeared to be contained to one high school in the borough of Queens, he said.
"We believe that there are probably more than 100 cases of swine flu at the school and lab tests are confirming what we have suspected," Bloomberg told a news conference.
New York City had confirmed eight cases on Sunday, when officials said the number was likely to increase. On Monday there were 28 confirmed cases plus 17 probable cases.
"This is in no way an indication of a change in the size of the population that is affected," Bloomberg said.
The virus has killed 103 people in Mexico and spread to the United States, Canada and Europe.
While the virus has so far killed no one outside Mexico, it has proved it can spread quickly between humans, raising fears that the world may be facing the flu pandemic that scientists say is long overdue.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Daniel Trotta)
