Local agencies prepare for swine flu

Ronica Shannon

The confirmed cases of swine flu throughout the U.S. may not be anywhere near Madison County, however, local organizations are still taking steps to make sure everything is in place in case of a local breakout.

Staff at Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center met early Monday morning to address the issue and prepare themselves to provide information to the public.

“We are actively preparing as a health care organization for the swine flu,” said Jill Williams, spokesperson for Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center. “We are evaluating what we need to prepare for any mass outbreak that may occur.”

Many college students travel to Mexico for spring break, which may raise concerns for those on local college campuses.

However, both Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College have no reported cases of suspected swine flu.

“At this time we are unaware of any students having gone to Mexico during Eastern’s spring break,” said Marc Whitt, associated vice president of public relations and marketing. “No one associated with our student health services office can recall anyone coming back with the flu from Mexico. Additionally, spring break was March 9 through the 13, over a month ago, and any swine flu brought back to the campus would have been manifest by now, according to that office.”

All the flu cases student health services has treated have been manageable, and none have resulted in hospitalization, Whitt said.

Dianne Hellwig, associate professor in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at Berea College, addressed the issue because the college farm has swine.

“The swine herd at the farm has never had a case of swine influenza,” she said. “It is a closed herd (pigs from the outside are not brought in) and public contact with the pigs is minimized. The pork board is recommending biosecurity measures for pork producers, however it is not likely that you will contract swine flu from the pigs at Berea College Farms. The vaccines that are available for pigs probably do not contain the strain of virus that is spreading to people, therefore, it would not make sense to vaccinate our animals at this time.”

The last group of Berea College students/faculty in Mexico was for a short-term class in January, according to Julie Sowell, Berea College public relations representative.

“No students or faculty we are aware of have traveled there since, either for spring break or other,” she said. “Some Berea students are currently scheduled for study abroad in Mexico this summer, but these are locations where there are currently no cases of the new strain of flu.”

Berea College has an approved Pandemic/ Epidemic Response Plan in place, according to Gail Wolford of the college’s administrative committee.

“That plan identifies a planning and assessment team made up of campus leaders from health service, student life, environmental health and safety, public safety, public relations and facilities management,” she said. “The team had already scheduled a meeting for this week and will, according to its primary charge, be monitoring the current situation through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Madison County Health Department and appropriate Web sites.”

Parents of Madison County public school students should receive information about symptoms and prevention, according to Erin Stewart, community education director for Madison County schools.

“Of course, as with any health concern, we prefer not to create a feeling of panic among our schools, students and parents,” Stewart said. “We just want to make people aware of the disease and help keep our community safe from being affected.”

For more information about Swine Flu, visit www.CDC.gov/swineflu.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.

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