U.S. death toll of A/H1N1 flu rises to 211

HOUSTON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The A/H1N1 flu death toll in the United States has reached 211, while confirmed and probable cases rose to 37,246, according to the latest statistics released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday.

The CDC said that 41 more deaths have been reported in the past week, a 24 percent jump from the previous record of 170, and 3,344new confirmed and probable cases have emerged, representing a 10-percent increase from the previous total of 3,3902 released a week ago.

Since the outbreak of the H1N1 flu, the state of New York has been leading the nation with most deaths of the new flu virus. The latest CDC report shows there have been 52 deaths in the state, eight more deaths reported for the past week.

Meanwhile, the state of Wisconsin continues to has most cases of the H1N1 flu. The CDC said on its website that there have been 6,031 confirmed and probable cases in the state.

However, those are "really just the tip of the iceberg," Anne Schuchat, a leading CDC expert, said last week. She and other CDC experts believe that there might be more than 1 million Americans who have been infected with H1N1 virus, though many probably had only a mild illness.

The reported numbers of the H1N1 flu cases by the CDC do not reflect how many actual cases there may be in the United State because individuals in outpatient settings are no longer being tested for the presence of the virus and many cases go undetected due to the mild nature of disease among most people, the CDC officials and experts explained.

Laboratory testing is limited to individuals with serious H1N1 flu symptom, including hospitalized patients, and those at high risk for complications, they added.

Both state and federal health officials urge people to be prepared for the pandemic declared by World Health Organization.