A total of 141 human A/H1N1 cases have been confirmed in the United States, spread across 19 states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.

The only person that has so far died of the H1N1 flu virus is a Mexican toddler who was visiting relatives in Texas. The numbers of infected people have been relatively stable in the first states to confirm cases, with New York having the highest tally of 50 which has remained the same for several days.

The US Education Department said Friday that 433 schools had closed, affecting 245,000 children in 17 states. That was about 100 more schools closed than reported on Thursday.

US President Barack Obama said on Friday that he was still optimistic on the effective response to the outbreak of the H1N1 flu that has spread nationwide in the country.

Obama told reporters after his meeting with cabinet members that his current priority has been "the health and safety of the American people" since the flu hit the US.

"I'm optimistic that we are going to be able to manage this effectively, but we still have more work to do," he said. "Overall, I am very pleased with the progress that we've made."

The president called on all government agencies to coordinate their work to battle the H1N1 outbreak, giving to the fact "this will end up being more severe" than other strains of seasonal influenza happened before.

"We are essentially ensuring that in the worst case scenario we can manage this appropriately."

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2009)