Texas Officials ‘Aggressively’ Look For Swine Flu

By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Texas health officials on Sunday were asking hospitals and doctors to take samples from flu patients so they could aggressively survey for a new strain of swine flu that has killed dozens of people in Mexico and sparked fears of a global pandemic.

Only two confirmed cases – both among students at a high school in Cibolo near San Antonio – have been identified in the state.

Officials were awaiting test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on eight possible cases, said Emily Palmer, a spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services.

Palmer said five of the cases being tested were in the Guadalupe County area where the two confirmed cases have been found. The other three possible cases are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. All the Texas cases have been mild.

The pair of boys who had the first confirmed Texas cases recovered and returned to school last week. However, state health officials have required the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District to close all 14 of its schools and two district facilities this week. The district must also cancel extracurricular activities for at least a week as a precaution.

The mayor of Cibolo closed city parks and asked churches to postpone activities. The mayor of Schertz, meanwhile, asked residents to, “if possible, refrain from public gatherings.” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff asked county employees who live in Guadalupe County and feel ill with flu-like systems to not report to work. Bexar includes the city of San Antonio.

Additionally, Dr. Sandra Guerra, the health official leading the Texas investigation, asked residents of Guadalupe County to avoid public gatherings and to stay home if they or a family member are ill.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Perry asked that 850,000 more courses of antiviral medication be placed in Texas as a precaution. The number is 25 percent of the CDC’s Texas allotment from the strategic national stockpile. Texas already has 840,000 courses of antiviral medication on hand following a purchase authorized by the Legislature and Perry in 2007.

“While the confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S. have been mild, it is prudent that we take the necessary precautions in Texas to protect our citizens,” Perry said in announcing his request.

“We will continue to work with our local, state and federal health officials to ensure public safety is protected.”

Palmer said the state was asking hospitals and doctors to do preliminary onsite tests to determine if patients with flu-like symptoms have the virus and to forward the samples of flu patients to a state lab. From there, any samples of unidentifiable flu viruses will be sent to the CDC, she said.

Because of the aggressive survey, officials expect more cases to be identified in Texas. Typically, mild cases of the flu might otherwise go unnoticed.

“We expect we probably will find more cases because we are into actively looking for cases,” Palmer said.

Health officials have begun interviews to help determine how the boys with the two confirmed cases contracted the illness, Palmer said. Neither of the boys, a pair of close friends, had been to Mexico or had contact with someone who did, according to them and their families, she said.

Because tests are still being done to determine the incubation period for the illness, it’s not clear how long the school will need to be closed or whether other nearby communities might also advise people to stay away from public gatherings, she said.

Meanwhile, public health officials along the border were carefully monitoring reports and asking health care providers to take respiratory samples from patients who appear to have the flu.

Dr. Hector Gonzalez, director of the Laredo city health department, said staff members were at hospitals and clinics in Laredo all weekend looking for any possible flu cases. He also talked to his counterpart in Nuevo Laredo on Sunday to ensure they could share any information on possible outbreaks.

With the thousands of people who pass daily between the U.S. and Mexico in his community, Gonzalez said the border region had to be considered a high-risk area. But by Sunday, no suspect cases had been reported.

“This is a perfect instance when we need to have immediate communication with our counterparts,” Gonzalez said. “This virus is not going to respect any border.”

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)