Swine Flu Connecticut
No cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Connecticut, but two "probable" cases have been identified in Stratford and Southbury, and East Haddam schools will be closed Wednesday after two members of a family that recently traveled to Cancun, Mexico, became ill, officials said.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said samples from the two probable cases have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.
"This may be an overabundance of caution, but caution is the word of the day," Rell said. "We are taking every action to identify and treat swine flu cases in Connecticut. This is likely to be a long-term effort, and this illness is likely to eventually touch every state in the nation in some way. But we continue to work closely with our federal partners and others states to aggressively slow the spread of swine flu in Connecticut."
East Haddam First Selectman Mark Walter said officials are awaiting the results of tests from the state Department of Public Health to determine whether the children, an elementary school and middle school student, are ill with swine flu.
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"It is extremely important to note at this point the students haven't been diagnosed with swine flu," Walter said.
East Haddam officials consulted with the Department of Public Health, the state Department of Education and the local health district before deciding to close East Haddam Elementary School and Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School and High School.
There have also been some reports of students at East Hampton High School falling ill after returning from a trip to Mexico, but school officials said this morning there were no swine flu cases.
William Gerrish, a spokesman at the Department of Public Health, said any testing at the state lab that indicates swine flu would be sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for confirmation.
"When we have test results, we'll announce them," Gerrish said, adding he was not aware of any information about East Hampton.
Rell said the DPH has established a panel of experts on infectious diseases and that she is getting twice-daily updates on the situation. Rell has also asked the federal government for 134,000 additional courses of anti-viral medications to supplement the 11,000 already stockpiled.
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