Deaths investigated in Los Angeles for possible link with swine flu

Special Report: World Tackles Swine Flu

LOS ANGELES, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Los Angeles were investigating on Tuesday two recent deaths that are possibly related to swine flu, and would be the first reported in the United States from the outbreak if confirmed.

A Los Angeles medical center reported the death of a 33-year-old man on Monday afternoon from symptoms resembling swine flu, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

"It's that diagnosis that needs to be confirmed. An autopsy will be performed to establish the cause of death," said a spokesman of the office.

The man was taken to the hospital on Saturday, complaining of shortness of breath and lymphoma and was diagnosed with pneumonia, according to the spokesman.

The second case under investigation involves a 45-year-old man, whose death was reported on Monday to the coroner's office. The man died on April 22 of pneumonia in Norwalk near Los Angeles.

According to published reports, no fatalities related to swine flu have been so far reported in the United States.

There have been no swine flu cases reported in the Los Angeles area since the outbreak from Mexico brought the world into a panic over the weekend, but local health officials said an outbreak is inevitable.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles health officials on Tuesday were still determining whether a woman who became ill after returning from a trip to Mexico will be listed as the area's first confirmed case.

A total of 11 cases have been documented in California, but all of them were mild and the patients have recovered since. The other confirmed cased in the United States are in New York, Texas, Ohio and Kansas.