* Woman in latest case had been in intensive care

* California health officials expect more cases (Updates with details of latest confirmed case)

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (Reuters) - A seventh case of the swine flu that has killed dozens of people in Mexico was confirmed in California on Saturday, involving a woman who was hospitalized in intensive care but has since recovered.

The 35-year-old Imperial County woman became ill on April 4 and was hospitalized for a week, the most severe case of swine flu yet found in the state, said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, deputy director of the California Department of Public Health.

The woman, who was not identified, has since fully recovered, Sorensen said. She was being interviewed by health authorities to determine how she may have been infected but had not traveled abroad or handled animals.

“None of the seven cases in California have recently traveled to Mexico and none had any direct contact with pigs, so all of these folks must have caught it from someone else,” Sorensen told Reuters.

The woman was diagnosed as part of stepped-up testing in California following the swine flu outbreak that showed signs of spreading as the World Health Organization warned it could become a global epidemic.

All seven of the state’s confirmed swine flu cases have been found in San Diego and Imperial counties, which share a border with Mexico. Four of Mexico’s suspected cases have been reported in Mexicali, which is on the border with California.

State health officials have not ordered any border restrictions but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has advised Californians to take precautions, including avoiding close contact with others, washing hands often and covering the nose and mouth when sneezing.

California’s top health officials have said they expect to find more cases of swine flu, calling the eruption of a new strain puzzling.

“When you start looking more intensely, you are likely to find more cases,” said Dr. Gil Chavez, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health and the state’s chief epidemiologist.

“We are watching this very closely. It’s largely a mystery. It’s very unusual whenever you have as many as even six cases (of swine flu). That’s very, very rare,” Chavez said.

Schwarzenegger said California had requested extra flu experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was expanding lab testing and the monitoring of animals.

The state has activated its Joint Emergency Operations Center and has been in communication with officials in Mexico. (Editing by Peter Cooney)