THOMASVILLE — With two new confirmed cases of swine flu — one in Thomas County and the other in Colquitt County — Southwest Health District’s count of patients with the disease has risen to five, said Southwest Health District Health Director Dr. Jacqueline Grant.

“The number of actual cases is thought to be higher,” Grant said. “Since we are no longer testing to determine if swine flu is spreading, but rather to monitor how severe it is, it is very likely that many infections are going uncounted.”

The Colquitt County patient, a four-month-old female, marks the first confirmation that the pandemic has pushed beyond Thomas County, where the District’s first three cases were reported.

A 21-year-old man has been identified as the fourth and most recent Thomas County swine flu patient.

Statewide, the number of pandemic swine flu cases had climbed to 78 as of Tuesday. No fatalities have been attributed to it in Georgia.

The addition of two more confirmed cases in Southwest Health District will change neither the level of alertness nor the type of response and is not cause for alarm, Grant said.

“We have been expecting this. What we are seeing here is the same pattern that has emerged in Georgia and the United States. All U.S. states and more than 70 countries worldwide have reported pandemic swine flu activity,” she explained.