Minn. announces second probable H1N1 case
A person from Isanti County is Minnesota's second probable case of swine flu, state health officials said Friday.
The sample was being sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for definitive testing. No identifying information was released about the person, but the Health Department said he or she was at home and expected to make a full recovery.
The department said the Isanti County case did not involve a school. Minnesota's first case of swine flu turned up earlier this week at Rocori Middle School in Cold Spring, and that school and the nearby St. Boniface School have been shut down until next week.
Health Department spokesman Buddy Ferguson said it may take a day or more for the CDC to process the Isanti County sample because it's handling many from around the country. He said he didn't believe the sample was flown to Atlanta on the state's plane, as the Cold Spring sample was.
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The department's epidemiologists were investigating whether the Isanti County person had a link to Mexico or other areas where swine flu has turned up.
More than 100 cases of swine flu have been confirmed around the United States.
Minnesota health officials have said the state would see more cases. As of Friday, the Health Department had tested 224 samples from people with flu symptoms around the state, with more than 30 more awaiting testing.
The state's health lab doesn't have tests that can make the final determination that a sample is Type A H1N1, but the CDC was sending the specific tests to public health labs around the country to make it possible for states to do it themselves. Those were expected to arrive in Minnesota in the next several days.
Minnesota health officials have recommended commonsense steps to protect against swine flu transmission, including frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and sneezes, avoiding sick people and staying at home if sick.
Minnesota has some 400,000 doses of antiviral drugs, and more were being sent from the federal government to position at regional hospitals around the state.
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On the Net: Minnesota Department of Health: http://www.health.state.mn.us
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)