Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

No reports of swine flu in Nevada

Beyond the Sun

Nevada was not among the states identified today as having cases of the new type of swine flu. But Las Vegas-area doctors are on alert for patients with the flu who traveled in infected areas of Mexico and the United States.

The Southern Nevada Health District posted a notice on its Web site saying: "Southern Nevada clinicians should consider the possibility of swine influenza virus infections in patients presenting with ... respiratory illness who have traveled to or from San Diego County or Imperial County, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; or Mexico City, Mexico; within the last seven days, or have been in contact with ill persons from these areas in the seven days prior to their onset of illness.''

If swine flu is suspected, clinicians should obtain influenza testing through local commercial or hospital laboratories, the district said.

Federal officials announced today that the new strain of the flu has been found in New York, California, Texas, Kansas and Ohio. The flu has been deadly in some cases in Mexico, but so far not in the United States.

U.S. officials stressed that the flu has nothing to do with eating pork and that pork is safe to eat. They said that while swine flu can be transmitted from pigs to humans, the new outbreak appears to be spreading by people-to-people contact.

"The lack of known exposure to pigs in the two cases increases the possibility that human-to-human transmission of this new influenza virus has occurred,'' the CDC reported in two of the California cases.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention offered these tips people can take to stay healthy:

--Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

--Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

--Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

--Avoid close contact with sick people. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

--If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy