Pediatrician among 'probable' swine flu cases

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) - A pediatrician is among 13 people that public health authorities say have "probable" cases of swine flu in Washington state.

Officials said all the cases are consistent with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, but they are waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm that the 13 have the new strain of influenza.

The pediatrician, who works at the Everett Clinic near Seattle and who was not identified out of privacy concerns, may have inadvertently exposed some of her patients to her illness, authorities said.

At a news conference Thursday, Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, the medical director of the Everett Clinic, said the pediatrician saw 22 patients and their parents Monday, the only day she is believed to have practiced while possibly contagious.

The Everett Clinic is contacting the patients and their families that the pediatrician had appointments with Monday to determine if they might have been exposed to the doctor's illness and require treatment. A spokesman for the Washington state health department said that none of the patients examined by the pediatrician have so far been found to be suffering from flu symptoms.

Authorities said the doctor is recovering, as are her husband and their two children, who also became ill.