The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Miami-Dade stood at 421 on Wednesday, according to the county health department.

At the all-female Homestead Correctional Institution, where visitations were suspended after an outbreak last week, the Florida Department of Corrections now reports 20 inmates with flu-like symptoms. County health officials said six of those cases are confirmed as swine flu, but have stopped confirming cases because once swine flu has been identified in an institutional setting, it no longer analyzes samples.

Cases peaked at five per day June 25 and have declined to no more than one per day since, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.

Inmates who are sick are isolated together, she said. Other inmates who may have been exposed but who have not shown symptoms remain on restricted movement, not permitted to mix with non-exposed inmates, Rackleff said. The all-female prison holds 678 inmates.

At the nearby all-male Dade Correctional Institution, which houses 1,624 inmates, seven cases of flu-like illness were reported Wednesday. State officials could not say if the cases were confirmed as swine flu.

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