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Tuesday, 28 April 2009 |
 State – Public health officials are working to confirm a possible case of swine flu at a school in Sacramento County.
The deadly airborne flu virus which originated in Mexico and has killed as many as 105 people in the Mexico City area has now being detected in at least seven people in California. The federal government issued a public health emergency Sunday to help with the distribution of drugs to treat and prevent spread of the virus to regions most affected. At least 50 people in the United States have been confirmed positive. California state and county public health officials were asking federal authorities Sunday to warn Americans against traveling to Mexico. St. Mel school in Fair Oaks has shut its doors through Wednesday after a seventh grader who recently returned from Cancun fell ill last Wednesday. A group of classmates are also being tested for infection by swine flu. “If we start seeing more cases, and more serious cases, that will require much more serious intervention. It will dictate how aggressive our actions are,” said Gil Chavez, deputy director of the center for infectious diseases at the California Department of Public Health. Even though the World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level in response to the flu in Mexico, the federal government has issued statements saying there is nothing to panic about. “We've been fortunate to have a very mild flu (in the United States), but we may only have seen a fraction of what's out there," said Chavez. Anticipating the flood of concern amongst local residents, Public Health Officials in Amador County have posted information on swine flu on their website, including symptoms and methods of prevention. Story by Alex Lane
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