NYC: Tests indicate no swine flu in dead toddler

[May 20, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City health officials say tests conducted on a toddler who died after being hospitalized with respiratory symptoms indicate he wasn't infected with swine flu.

A Department of Health statement says tests were performed Tuesday on nasal swabs taken from 16-month-old Jonathan Zamora Castillo. The health department sent tissue samples to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for further analysis. Results are expected this week.

Jonathan died Monday night at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Hospital officials said he had a high fever when he arrived.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the child's death "is very tragic, regardless of what caused it."

[Associated Press]

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