A 22-year-old Morgan Hill man has been diagnosed with a probable
case of swine flu, according to county health officials. As of
Sunday afternoon, the county had ten probable cases of H1N1,
commonly known as swine flu, including the Morgan Hill man. The man
has not been hospitalized and is recovering at home, according to
Santa Clara County public health department spokeswoman Teresa
Chagoya.
A 22-year-old Morgan Hill man has been diagnosed with a probable case of swine flu, according to county health officials.
As of Sunday afternoon, the county had ten probable cases of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, including the Morgan Hill man.
The man has not been hospitalized and is recovering at home, according to Santa Clara County public health department spokeswoman Teresa Chagoya.
County nurses are conducting a “contact investigation,” in which they will interview those who were in close contact with the man, such as workers, friends and roommates, Chagoya said. The health department has conducted such investigations in all 10 of the probable county cases.
Once Santa Clara County identifies a case as probable swine flu, it is forwarded to the state for confirmation. The state recently received the necessary testing equipment this weekend; previously, the county forwarded probable cases to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There were no confirmed cases in the county out of 99 tested as of 1 p.m. Thursday. Chagoya said the state was backlogged with cases to test, and she didn’t know when the results would be announced. The state treats all county probable cases as very likely swine flu cases, Chagoya said.
The CDC confirmed 26 cases of swine flu in California as of 12 p.m. Sunday. Most of these were in the southern part of the state.
Gilroy’s Rucker Elementary School was one of four county schools closed as a precaution Friday as students were tested. District officials waited for results from a student with a “highly suspect” case of swine flu. The results were negative and Rucker will reopen Monday.
Meanwhile, Ann Sobrato High School Principal Debbie Padilla said two students stayed home sick with the flu, but it wasn’t swine flu. One parent called the office to let them know she was testing her son. That test has come back negative, Padilla said.
“The problem is, we’re dealing with regular flu at the same time,” Padilla said. “We’re telling parents to take extra cautions, that if they’re child is showing symptoms to keep them home. Our goal is to not have any cases, hopefully.”
Federal health officials believe the flu, which regularly affects pigs but rarely humans, originated in Mexico, and they are concerned because it is a new virus for which people have little or no immunity and no vaccine.
Responding to the virus’ rapid spread, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Margaret Chan, raised the organization’s alert level from phase four to phase five Wednesday, signifying that a flu pandemic was imminent.
The CDC has confirmed 226 cases throughout the country, with 63 in New York and 40 in Texas – where a 23-month-old child from Mexico City died in Houston Wednesday morning after visiting relatives in Brownsville.
