Ohio Boy's Swine Flu Matches Deadly Mexican Strain

NEW YORK — The swine flu virus that sickened a 9-year-old Ohio boy is the same strain as the one that has killed up to 86 people in Mexico, an emergency official said Sunday. Laboratory tests by the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case matches the deadly strain, said Lorain County Emergency Management Agency spokesman Clifton Barnes.

Health department spokesman Robert Jennings said the boy has a mild case of the disease and is recovering at his home in Elyria, in northern Ohio's Lorain County. The child's name was not released.

Elyria 9-year-old has swine flu

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“The reason the CDC is pushing for the school to close is they’re concerned there might be more students out there that have it but that no one’s aware of it yet,” Dever said. “They could have been exposed on Friday and not be symptomatic until Monday, and if they’re back in school they’re affecting all the other classmates. They’re doing this out of an abundance of caution.”
(snip)
When tests came back positive Sunday, the Lorain County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security was called, and the Emergency Operations Center was staffed and activated by 11 a.m.

“This is a process we’ve worked on for the last two years,” said agency Director Tom Kelley. “Communication, which usually breaks down in emergencies like this, has been working very well this morning.”

Kelley’s office also assisted the Elyria School District in notifying families of Ely School students about the 9-year-old boy. An automated message was sent out by the district to families, Kelley said. Officials went door-to-door Sunday to inform families that do not have phones.

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Elyria school to remain closed: Swine flu causes elementary students to miss another week

ELYRIA — Students at Ely Elementary School will have another week off thanks to a change in swine flu guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. But the end result is they may have to stay at their desks an extra week in June.

The school has been closed since Monday due to a case of swine flu in a 9-year-old boy who attends the third grade there. The Elyria City Schools announced yesterday the school, 312 Gulf Road, where about 500 students attend first through sixth grades, won’t reopen until May 11.

The district learned of the guideline change, which calls for schools with one confirmed case of swine flu to close for a minimum of 14 days, about 12:30 p.m. yesterday, according to schools spokeswoman Amy Higgins,. The longer closure period is due to the CDC now saying children are likely to be infectious for seven to 10 days after the onset of illness, a longer time than previously believed.

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/05/02/news/mj983592.txt

6 potential swine flu cases tested in northwest Ohio

By JULIE M. McKINNON
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The Ohio Department of Health is testing six cases of suspected swine flu in northwest Ohio - including a Lucas County man who visited the California-Mexico border area - but already has ruled out 18 cases in eight local counties, according to statistics released Friday.

Statewide, there has been one confirmed case of swine flu in Lorain County in a recovering 9-year-old Elyria boy, while there are four probable cases elsewhere among people in their 30s who are being tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two of those cases are in Franklin County, with one each in Holmes and Portage counties, according to the state health department.

Although Ohio so far has had mild cases of swine flu, residents still should take precautions, including avoiding areas with swine flu and staying home if sick, and take care of themselves by eating well and getting enough sleep, Dr. Alvin Jackson, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said.

“We want to remind everyone to wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands,” Dr. Jackson said during a media briefing Friday. “That simple action - washing your hands - remains critical to slowing the spread of illness in Ohio.”

He added, “This currently is mild, but it may not always remain mild.”
Dr. David Grossman, Toledo-Lucas County health commissioner, said yesterday that the state has ruled out one suspected Lucas County case of swine flu. The other suspected swine flu sufferer in Lucas County is a middle-aged man who fell ill after his trip to the California-Mexico border area but did not need hospitalization, he said.

“He was in the right area,” Dr. Grossman said.

The state department is testing suspected swine flu cases among people who have influenza symptoms including a fever of at least 100.4 degrees, coughing, and sore throat. They also must have been exposed to a confirmed case, such as by traveling to an area with swine flu or direct contact with a patient, in order to be tested for the disease, Bret Atkins, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, said.

Sandusky County has two suspected cases, while Wood, Ottawa, and Huron counties also each have one, according to statistics. Local health officials have said it would be several weeks before they determine whether a Wood County woman who has recovered had swine flu.

Last night, Michigan reported a probable case in Hillsdale County.

Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.

Team swings into action to combat swine flu
Published: Friday, May 1, 2009

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/05/01/news/mj978602.txt

By SCOT ALLYN
sallyn@MorningJournal.com

ELYRIA — When swine flu was confirmed in a 9-year-old Elyria boy Sunday, a little-known group of fire personnel, law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel and public health workers went into action.

The Incident Management Assistance Team, or IMAT, assisted Tom Kelley, director of the Lorain County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and Kathy Boylan, commissioner of the Elyria City Health Department, in planning how to tackle a potential county-wide problem, according to Oberlin fire Chief Dennis Kirin.

“Initially, the goal was to disseminate information about the influenza,” Kirin said. The IMAT worked within parameters set by the Elyria City Health Department because that’s where the boy lived, Kirin said.

IMAT members helped to write bulletins and made sure they were translated into Spanish.

“And if the swine flu moved out of Elyria, we were ready to respond,” Kirin said.

The team also established procedures to transport medical specimens quickly.

“The (Ohio Department of Health) Columbus lab has to determine if it’s influenza A or looks like swine flu,” Kirin said. As more Lorain County residents developed flu symptoms through the week, most of their test specimens were driven by Lorain County sheriff’s deputies to Columbus, according to Kirin.

The IMAT, with 22 members from Amherst, Elyria, Lorain, Oberlin, Sheffield Village, Avon, Avon Lake, Wellington and county agencies, was developed in Lorain County two years ago, Kirin said.

Training classes were in 2007 and 2008 at Lorain County Community College, taught by two instructors from the National Fire Academy, he said.

“A key component in regard to the flu incident is the planning aspect,” he said. “Many local departments don’t have the personnel to have someone think about what’s needed to handle this kind of emergency. Our planning group is the thinking cap of the organization.”

Kelley said he took the week-long 50-hour class.

“It was probably the best educational experience I’ve had since I’ve been involved in emergency management,” Kelley said. He learned about the National Incident Management System, a national program that teaches a uniform way to respond to emergencies across the United States.

Kelley said management of the swine flu in Lorain County went smoothly, in part because of the IMAT.

“It’s the first time we had them dig into something on this scale,” Kelley said. “We turned ‘em loose and gave them objectives that needed to be accomplished, and they got to work quickly.”

There are no titles in the Lorain County IMAT, Kirin said.

“We all feel we bring unique training and experience to the table,” he said. “Each emergency requires a different response so we have flexibility by arriving as equals. Everyone’s willing to roll up their sleeves and step into whatever role is required.”

IMATs have spread across the country since Sept. 11, 2001, as emergency responders started a national conversation on how to handle large-scale emergencies. Training is based on procedures put in place since the 1970s by the U.S. Forestry Service to deal with large forest fires, Kirin said.

Yesterday, the IMAT established transport procedures for Tamiflu from the Strategic National Stockpile, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized for release to states, like Ohio, where swine flu was confirmed. Tamiflu is used to treat influenza, including swine flu.

“If the drug is needed, trucks are ready to roll,” Kirin said.

But as the week has unfolded, with no other cases of swine flu in Lorain County, the IMAT was not expected to continue focusing on the case, according to Kirin.

“Unless something changes, we do not expect to be reactivated,” he said. “But if the call goes out, our people will be there.”

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