Texas Officials Report 2nd Swine Flu Dea...(the virus will do Sebelius stressed. We...),Health

"We are learning more about the H1N1 virus every day," Sebelius said. "We know there will be more cases and, unfortunately, there are likely to be more hospitalizations and more deaths. We are working as fast as we can to stay ahead of this disease."

Although the flu is milder than thought, it continues to spread throughout the country and many more cases are expected.

As of Tuesday there were 1,105 probable and confirmed cases across 44 states, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a teleconference. "There are over 700 probable cases and 403 confirmed cases. The confirmed cases are in 38 states," he said.

On Monday, federal health officials said that much of the recent bump upward in cases was due to health workers catching up on a backlog of lab tests, and not a sudden rise in new infections.

Still, "we are continuing to see virus transmission and expect to continue to see virus transmission both around the United States and around the globe," Besser said. "We would expect to see cases in all states over time, and we will see more hospitalizations and it is likely we will see additional deaths."

However, a closer look at the flu in Mexico -- believed to be the source of the outbreak -- has revealed that it is really not very different from the flu seen in the United States, Besser said. "We are seeing more cases in Mexico of the milder disease," he said.

At another press conference on Monday, Besser told reporters that "we are not out of the woods," but he added that "we are seeing a lot of encouraging signs."

Among the encouraging signs: "So far the severity of illness we are seeing in this country is very similar to what w
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