cases were picked up through a special influenza monitoring program , with stations in San Diego and El Paso , Texas . The program aims to get a better sense of what strains exist and to detect new strains before they become widespread , the CDC said . Other cases emerged through routine and expanded surveillance . At this point , the ability for the human influenza vaccine to protect against this new swine flu strain is unknown , and studies are ongoing , she said . There is no danger from contracting the virus from eating pork products , Schuchat said . The new virus has genes from North American swine and avian influenza , human influenza and swine influenza normally found in Asia and Europe , said Nancy Cox , chief of the CDC 's Influenza Division . Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza , according to the CDC . It does not normally inflect humans , but cases have occurred among people , especially those who have had direct exposure to pigs . There have also been cases in the past of one person spreading swine flu to other people
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A total of seven cases of a previously undetected strain of swine flu have been confirmed in humans in the United States , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said . None of the patients has had direct contact with pigs . Swine flu is usually diagnosed only in pigs or people in regular contact with them . Five of the cases have been found in California , and two have been found in Texas , near San Antonio , said Dr. Anne Schuchat , the CDC 's Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program . The CDC reported Tuesday that two children in the San Diego , California , area , infected with a virus called swine influenza A H1N1 , whose combination of genes has not been seen in flu viruses in either human or pigs before . The patients range from age 9 to 54 , Schuchat said . They include two 16-year-old boys who attend the same Texas school , and a father and daughter in California . `` The good news is that all seven of these patients have recovered , '' Schuchat said . The first two