EL PASO, Texas -- Rumors ran rampant Wednesday of swine flu cases at Thomason Hospital while some doctors were overrun with patients worried about catching the virus.

It began Wednesday morning with a text message that lead to nonstop phone calls to the KFOX newsroom of rumors about a swine flu case at Thomason Hospital.

By mid-afternoon, those rumors were put to rest, as health officials said there are no probable or confirmed cases of swine flu in El Paso, but all of the rumors have started to scare many El Pasoans.

They are the face of El Paso's healthcare system, and they have a message for Borderland residents.

"You don't need, generally, medical care for a cold. If you are having trouble breathing, if you feel so sick, you can't even stand up, then yes, of course, you should seek care," said Dr. Brian Wilson with Thomason Hospital.

Area hospitals have seen a run on their emergency rooms in the last 24 hours.

"We saw 60 more patients in the emergency department then is the usual registration. Almost every one of those patients was there becuase they wanted to be tested for the swine flu, and they had minor cold symptoms," Wilson told KFOX.

Sierra Providence hospitals saw the same thing.

"If you are home and you are ill and you feel like you would normally just stay at home, take the day off, that's what we want you to do," said Ken Berumen with Sierra Providence Health Network.

City health officials said there are no probable or confirmed cases of swine flu in El Paso. The largest outbreak is in New York, with 51 confirmed cases. Texas is the second largest with 16, followed by California with 14.

"If we identify something we think needs to go to CDC, then it becomes a probable case. If that happened, we would let you know. That has not happened," said Michael Hill, Director of the El Paso Department of Public Health.

And Hill said his laboratory would never confirm a swine flu case.

"The only way that there can be a confirmed case of swine flu in El Paso County, is if my laboratory sends it to CDC for processing," he said.

Officials from Thomason and Sierra Providence said not just the ERs, but doctors offices are seeing a huge increase in people with mild symptoms, asking for the swine flu test. Because there are only so many test kits, the El Paso Department of Public Health is coming up with guidelines for when doctors should use the swine flu test.