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Officials now say flu in Orlando unconfirmed

FLORIDA TODAY STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Dr. Kevin Sherin from the Orange County Health Department said there has not been any confirmed cases of swine flu in Orlando, FLORIDA TODAY news partner WKMG Local 6 now reports.

Someone who may have visited Mexico and returned to Orlando was tested for swine flu, but the results have not come back from the lab in Jacksonville, Sherin said. The test was sent out Monday night.

Sherin said people who think they have the virus are flooding hospitals, but this is the first case that warranted further testing.

Earlier today, FLORIDA TODAY news partner Tampa Bay’s 10 reported the Orlando case.

The TV station reported that, according to the chief medical officer for Adventist Health System, Loran Hauck, the case was diagnosed Tuesday morning.

“A case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit,” Hauck wrote in an email obtained by Tampa Bay’s 10.

Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros today warned Floridians to expect the strain of swine flu that has swept Mexico, Europe and parts of the United States to show up in Florida.

While the outbreak has been deadly in Mexico, strains that have reached New York and California are milder and have required only one hospitalization, and that victim had other health problems, Ros said.

“Everything is in good hands,” she said.

State health officials are monitoring ports of entry in a “passive” fashion, asking travelers if they feel ill and investigating further if they report any flu symptoms, which include fever, sore throat, runny nose and muscle aches, Ros said. The federal government has issued a travel warning for Mexico.

She urged people with flu symptoms to stay home. She also advised frequent hand washing and normal precautions like covering the mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing.

“It’s just common sense,” she said.

Should an outbreak occur, the state is prepared to ask the federal Centers for Disease Control for additional help, she said.

Meanwhile, federal officials urged Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico on Monday, as swine flu cases in the United States crept upward, with 50 cases confirmed so far.

In addition, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters that the Obama administration is treating the swine-flu threat aggressively, with millions of doses of flu-fighting medicines already en route from a federal stockpile to several states, including the five initially affected — California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas.

“We are proceeding as if we are preparatory to a full pandemic,” Napolitano said, shortly after the World Health Organization raised the severity of its pandemic-alert level to four from three on a six-point scale.

Level four means there is sustained human-to-human spread in at least one country — in this case, Mexico, where the new influenza virus was first detected. Some 1,600 cases have been reported in Mexico, with a suspected death toll of 149, compared with no deaths in the United States to date and only one hospitalization.

Locally, public health officials said they plan to look for any uptick in flu activity, as the regular flu season winds down, as a warning sign for swine flu’s presence here.

Although no cases of this new type of influenza have been reported in Florida, Brevard County Health Director Dr. Heidar Heshmati said state and local officials are working closely with medical providers to increase surveillance and testing of patients with suspicious symptoms.

The Brevard School District today sent its 9,000 employees a statement from Heshmati’s office, detailing information on swine flu and its prevention — including hygiene tips like proper hand-washing.
Heshmati described these as “common-sense” hygienic measures.

“You get any flu from coughing, and then touching your nose and mouth,” he said. “Good hand-washing is the best protection.”

And if you get sick, he added, call ahead for an appointment at a physician’s office.

“We don’t want patients sitting in a waiting room with 20 or 30 other patients getting them infected,” Heshmati said.

“There’s no difference between flu symptoms” caused by any of the influenza viruses, Heshmati said.

“So, if somebody has a history of travel and has flu symptoms —high fever, coughing, vomiting and diarrhea, among others — we are advising them to go to the emergency room or to a clinic for testing,” he said.

Maria Alvarado, a supervisor with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office, said customs officials are following normal protocol at Port Canaveral, including isolating anyone appearing to be sick.

Sick passengers, she said, are placed in an isolation room, given a surgical mask, then turned over to medical personnel.

But “we haven’t come across anybody yet,” she said.

A number of airlines said they were waiving usual penalties for changing reservations for anyone traveling to, from or through Mexico, but had not canceled flights.

Local hospital spokespeople said they have seen no substantial increase in flu activity as yet, and no increase in individuals thinking they might have swine flu, although several specimens have been sent out to the state laboratory for further evaluation. Results are not expected for several days.

The respiratory disease, which started in Mexico and later spread to the United States and beyond, has raised concerns about its potential for a worldwide spread because of the virus’ novel genetic makeup — a mixture of bird flu genes, pig genes and human genes — all in one.

“Genetically, this is not something we’ve ever seen before,” said Barry Inman, an epidemiologist with the Brevard County Health Department, describing the sudden viral reshuffling that resulted in the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declaring a public health emergency over the weekend.

“Pigs can be mixing vessels for these viruses, creating new variants or strains,” Inman said. “And that seems to be what’s happened.”

Even the “regular” influenza virus, which causes 36,000 deaths in the United States each year, constantly rearranges its genes each season, in order to gain a survival edge.

The genes that change most often produce two surface proteins that enable the virus to slip easily in and out of cells and take over respiratory cells’ machinery in order to mass-produce.

This chameleon-like capability is why flu vaccines contain different viral strains each year, as scientists try to stay a step ahead of the disease.

Heshmati said the Centers for Disease Control already is working to include the new swine-flu strain in the flu vaccine for next flu season.

However, a more immediate vaccine is unlikely, he said, as these “take a lot of time to develop.”

For now, individuals with flu must rely on two antiviral drugs, which have proved effective against swine flu if administered within two to three days of the appearance of symptoms, Heshmati said.

“That’s why individuals should not wait for their test results,” he said.