PORTLAND, Ore. -- Health officials said Oregon was scaling back its swine flu response because it is behaving like a typical flu outbreak.

Three new cases were identified in Marion County on Tuesday. In all, there were 69 cases Friday, officials said.

Dr. Mel Kohn, Oregon's top health official, said the state is dropping its recommendation that schools be closed if students become sick. Instead, students should just stay home until they recover.

Eleven schools in Forest Grove that were closed this week for a possible case were set to reopen Wednesday. However, the Central School District in Polk County decided to keep schools closed, due to three confirmed cases within the student population and several more cases under investigation.

The recommendation came after U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the flu was milder than officials had originally thought and the government dropped its recommendation that schools with proposed swine flu cases close.

The H1N1 swine flu virus had been confirmed now in six counties; Multnomah, Lane, Polk, Washington, Umatilla and Marion.

More than half of the specimens collected by state health officials had tested negative for the flu; of those that were positive for "some sort of influenza," only 21 were the swine variant as of Tuesday.

A teenage girl who had been hospitalized was moved out of intensive care and "doing better," officials said.

She and another child had been the only two cases requiring hospitalization.

"There are a lot of people who are ill with respiratory viruses here in Oregon that are not swine flu," Kohn said. "We're still learning how this flu is behaving and who it is affecting."

Eleven schools in the Forst Grove district closed Monday and Tuesay after a suspected case.

More: School closures

WOU reopens May 5 after flu closure
A probable case of swine flu that was later confirmed led Western Oregon University to close its campus from Thursday evening through Monday. School officials announced Monday that the campus would re-open Tuesday, May 5. Details: Swine flu closes WOU

Oregon's first case announced Thursday
State health officials said a Multnomah County woman probably contracted the flu from an ill person her family came into contact with on a recent trip to Mexico.

"This is real. This is now in Oregon," said Kohn.

The woman fell ill Sunday, April 26, a few days after seeing family that was exposed in Mexico, according to Multnomah Co. Health Officer Gary Oxman. She experienced flu-like symptoms but went to work anyway on Monday; she was not hospitalized and was recovering normally. More : First Oregon case

Cases tested by CDC
Nine more probable cases of swine flu were reported in Washington state on Saturday, bringing to 25 the number of probable cases in five counties.

The state Department of Health reports that 15 of the probable cases are in King County, which includes Seattle; six are in Snohomish County and one in Skagit County north of Seattle; one is in Pierce County, which includes Tacoma; and two are in Spokane County.

Idaho also announced its first case: a 60-year-old woman who recently traveled to Texas was likely exposed and brought it back home.

 More: Latest Wash. cases

Slideshow: Inside Oregon's swine flu HQ

Officials said they would test for swine flu in limited cases: when somebody shows signs of flu and either was in a place where the disease has broken out, as in Mexico, or has been in close contact with a person who was in such a place and got sick.

AP Photo

A nurse holds up a box of the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu.

Last week, a trip to Mexico for students at Oregon Episcopal School was cut short by concerns about the flu. Those students returned to Portland early as a precaution. More: Mexico trip cut short

WHO raises alert level
The World Health Organization raised its alert level one notch Wednesday, signaling the swine influenza outbreak could become a "global pandemic event," defined as a geographically widespread, serious illness that is infectious among humans.

View: Pandemic Alert tables

Swine flu has now reached "Phase 5" of a general WHO timeline charting the various phases of a pandemic event. Phase 6 is identified as the "pandemic phase" according to WHO officials, who operate under the United Nations.

Multimedia: Swine flu global timeline

As of Friday, the CDC had confirmed nearly 200 cases of swine flu in the U.S. and one fatality. A 2-year-old boy from Mexico died from swine flu-complicated pneumonia in Texas.

Latest: U.S. swine flu cases

NW officials increase monitoring
Oregon and Washington health officials said they had stepped up virus tracking and monitoring efforts. Hospitals, clinics, doctors and other providers were asked to report all "Type A" flu cases.

Swine flu is a Type A virus; however, not all Type A flus are of the swine genetic variant, health officials said.

The state of Oregon also established a swine flu web site to keep people informed. A toll free hotline in English and Spanish (800) 978-3040 was also being staffed from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Oregon Public Health Division director Dr. Mel Kohn said the state is prepared.

“This is something we have been concerned about for many years, and in fact, we’ve been working to prepare for many years now,” he told KGW.

Prevention stressed by Obama, CDC
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama warned education officials across the U.S. that schools should be closed if any attending students had confirmed or suspected swine flu cases.

New York has the most confirmed cases; residents there and in other populous states like California and Texas have begun wearing face masks to prevent exposure to swine flu.

Public health officials, however, say the single-most effective prevention of flu exposure is consistent handwashing. CDC recommends washing hands throughout the day, several times, for 20 seconds per wash under warm water.

Q&A: How to prevent spread of swine flu

U.S. stockpiles flu treatments
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency guidance late Monday that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with a widespread swine flu outbreak.

The agency originally approved the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu for the prevention and treatment of influenza in adults and children age 1 and older. Another antiviral drug, Relenza, was originally approved to treat people 7 and older and to help prevent flu in those 5 and older.

Concerns for travelers
Earlier in the week, the U.S. government issued an advisory warning travelers to cancel any nonessential visits to Mexico. Governments abroad had warned or restricted travel to North America as the outbreak spreads.

Travelers at Portland International Airport told KGW they were surprised that customs officials offered nothing more than informational flyers. No special testing was being administered by U.S. health officials for the swine flu variant.

Several airlines at PDX were waiving fees to change flights to or from Mexico, including American Airlines, United, Contiental, U.S. Airways and Mexicana International. Passengers were urged to call thier airlines for additional details. More: Travel info

The Associated Press contributed to this report.