The state has informed doctors about an unusual strain of swine flu that has killed dozens of people in Mexico, a state Department of Health spokeswoman said Friday.

No case of the virus has been reported in Hawaii. But the state has asked island doctors to send specimens from patients showing flu symptoms to the state laboratory for testing, said Janice Okubo, department spokeswoman.

"We haven't seen anything here, but we just want to take every precaution that we can," Okubo said. "As this issue unfolds and we get more information, we want to be prepared."

The outbreak caused alarm in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been sickened. At least eight people in Texas and California have caught the virus, though there have been no deaths in the U.S.

Okubo says department staff joined a conference call on the virus Friday that the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention organized for the states.