Swine Flu Update

A possible case of swine flu has been discovered in Memphis. This could be just another step before the virus is confined in Mississippi. MPB's Stephen Koranda has more.

Mississippi Epidemiologist Dr. Mary Currier yesterday told reporters the department of health is already watching closely for swine flu in Mississippi, so a possible case in the Memphis area won’t change their efforts. Health officials have said it’s only a matter of time until the virus is found in the state. When a case is detected, Currier says infected people will be asked to stay isolated in their homes.

“And if there are other folks in the home, we’d ask those folks to take great care and if they get sick to make sure that they stay home as well. We wouldn’t ask the contacts in the home to quit going to work, we’d ask them to be very careful of their own health and if they do have any indication that they’re getting sick, to then stay home.”

Currier says an announcement of swine flu in Mississippi will only come from the health department, and Mississippians shouldn't believe other sources. While cases are continuing to rise nationally, University of Southern Mississippi Biological Sciences professor Bobby Middlebrooks, believes cases could soon begin to decrease. He says it’s late in the year for a flu outbreak.

“The number of cases tends to die out and wane away as the weather gets warmer. What is likely to happen, what usually happens in a case like this is we’re going to see a slowdown in the number of new cases, and then at the end of the summer as the weather begins to turn cooler, we may see an increase in cases again.”

Middlebrooks says this would give enough time to develop and produce a vaccine for the swine flu virus.