DENVER -- The Colorado Department of Health saidThursday that Colorado has two confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza.

One of the victims is a woman in her 30s, from Arapahoe County. She became ill after returning from a Mexico cruise that embarked from San Diego, Calif. She was not hospitalized.

The second case is a man in his 40s. He is employed as a baggage handler at Denver International Airport and is from Douglas County.

Call7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski confirmed the man works for United Airlines. Sources told Kovaleski the man has not reported to work since April 23. The man was hospitalized for three days.

Calls to United Airlines were not returned and as of 3 p.m. Thursday. Two Denver based UA employees said the airline has not notified them that and employee contracted H1N1 influenza.

Health officials said it was unlikely the man got the virus from handling baggage.

"The virus doesn't last too long on inanimate surfaces," said Dr. Chris Urbina, director of the Denver Public Health Department.

For days, Denver International Airport has been offering information in English and Spanish to employees and passengers on the disease. Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon said nothing had changed Thursday.

Southwest Airlines spokesman Paul Flaningan said the airline was ready to offer gloves to baggage handlers if they want them.

"We feel that both of these (victims) have some linkage with travel," said Chief Medical Officer Ned Calonge of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Both of the victims became ill around April 26 are recovering from their illness.

"It's important to understand that, at this time in the United States, the H1N1 flu is acting just like seasonal flu. It is a relatively mild disease, though we expect, as with seasonal flu, to see a spectrum of illness. We continue to ask all individuals with mild flu-like illness to stay home. This is regardless of travel history. Children and adolescents with fever should not go to day care or school. Adults with fever should not go to work until their symptoms resolve."

He suggested the general public wash their hands frequently and cover their mouths when they sneeze. He said people who suspect they have the flu should stay at home, unless they are having difficulty breathing.

"There are other lab specimens from patients in the pipeline that may confirm additional cases of H1N1 flu in the days and weeks to come,” said Calonge. “If there is evidence of a cluster of H1N1 flu cases that would warrant protective public health measures, we are prepared to employ social distancing measures that would help protect people from coming in contact with individuals who may be contagious."

Health officials urged people who feel sick not to seek tests or medical help unless their symptoms are more severe than an average bout of flu.

"We are asking people with mild flu-like symptoms to stay home" to avoid overwhelming emergency rooms, Calonge said.

There were no immediate plans to start dispensing the 167,000 doses of antiviral medication Colorado has as part of a federal stockpile in case of pandemic, Calonge said.

Against federal recommendations, Colorado has not added to the federal stockpile because of cost and questions about how effective the medicines would prove in a pandemic.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said at a separate event Thursday that the state has no reason to worry about the stockpile, even if H1N1 spreads.

"By any estimate we have plenty of the appropriate medicine available and ready," Hickenlooper said.

Dr. Richard Vogt, head of the Tri-County Health Department, which includes Douglas and Arapahoe counties, said schools don't appear to be at risk. Both H1N1 victims and their families have been interviewed, and so far they don't appear to have been in contact with school-age children.

"There's no linkage of these two cases with schools at this time, nor do we think there will be," Vogt said of the Colorado cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of H1N1 cases in the United States has topped 100, with confirmed infections in 11 states. It wasn't immediately clear if Colorado was among the 11.

The CDC update said there have been 109 cases including 50 in New York, 26 in Texas and 14 in California.

Health officials said Wednesday a 2-year-old boy from Mexico who died in Houston was the first H1N1 influenza death in the U.S. His family was visiting relatives in the United States when he became ill.

The World Health Organization increased its tally of confirmed cases around the world to 236 from 148. WHO said most of the new confirmed cases worldwide came from Mexico.

Colorado lawmakers were scheduled to get a briefing from state health officials on N1H1 later Thursday. Lawmakers are reviewing their plans to keep the Legislature functioning during an epidemic.

School Districts Take Precautions

Earlier this week, state health officials cautioned residents to practice good hygiene and to stay home from work and school if they are sick.

Several school districts have sent letters home to families explaining precautions that can be taken such as frequent hand washing, coughing into a hand or sleeve and staying home when feeling symptoms.

Adams County District 50 will send a letter home with students today in both English and Spanish.

"We have no extremely high absentee rates in students or staff reported at this time," said spokeswoman Deb Haviland.

In the state's largest district, Jefferson County Schools, the superintendent's cabinet will meet with county health officials later this afternoon.

A teenage student walked into a school clinic with flu-like symptoms earlier this week, possibly on Tuesday, according to district spokeswoman Lynn Setzer.

That student's flu test sample was sent to the Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta.

"We are taking precautionary steps to be able to act as we need to. That is gathering information. We have not closed any schools. We do have a pandemic flu plan in case it's necessary," Setzer said.

Across the country more than 150,000 school children are learning about epidemic responses at home, not in class, as concerns over the H1N1 flu has prompted nearly 300 schools to shut down.

According to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., 298 schools are closed now or are shutting down in a total of 11 states.

They are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.

A spokeswoman told 7NEWS the closures would impact an estimated 172,000 students nationwide.

No Colorado schools have been closed.

WHO To Stop Using Term 'Swine Flu' To Protect Pigs

The World Health Organization said it will stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the name change comes after the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to order the slaughter of pigs.

He told reporters in Geneva "we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A."

WHO raised the pandemic flu alert to phase 5 Wednesday, one step away from the highest level indicating a global outbreak.

WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda said Thursday the U.N. agency saw nothing yet to prompt it to raise the pandemic alert any more.