Updated: 8:21 p.m. April 30, 2009
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Georgia has its first confirmed case of swine flu
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, April 30, 2009
A Kentucky woman who came to Georgia for a wedding and shopped in Atlanta remained in the intensive care unit of a LaGrange hospital Thursday — the state’s first confirmed victim of the swine flu outbreak.
The 30-year-old woman, who officials declined to identify, has been isolated and remains in stable condition in the West Georgia Medical System Hospital, officials said.
Phil Skinner /
pskinner@ajc.com
Jun Mogi (right) wears a mask as he tries to make a phone call at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport. He is traveling to Japan from a business trip in Mexico.
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“She is beginning to show modest signs of improvement,” hospital chief Jerry Fulks said. “But she is still very seriously ill.”
The reporting of Georgia’s first swine flu victim sent waves of concern among officials and the public.
“That’s pretty scary,” said Josh Ivey, a student at West Georgia Technical College. “I’m worried. I go to school with about 2,000 people, and you never know who can be sick.”
Gov. Sonny Perdue tried to balance conveying information and caution.
“Today’s confirmed case of the H1N1 flu in Georgia is a reason for precaution, not panic,” he said.
He stressed that the state has “worked diligently” over the past several years to prepare for a situation like this, “and we are partnering with local and federal officials to respond appropriately.”
Metro Atlanta school systems have kept in touch with local health officials and sent home letters, letting parents know that they’re monitoring the developments and advising them of precautions — such as washing hands — that may help students avoid contracting the swine flu.
In Newton County, a seventh-grader was sent home Thursday because he refused to remove a mask he wore to protect himself against swine flu.
School system spokeswoman Sherri Viniard said “it created a disturbance” at Cousins Middle School in Covington and led to rumors the boy had the virus.
Georgia joins a dozen other states that have confirmed a total of about 100 swine flu victims. As the number of victims rises rapidly, along with public unease, the federal government has begun sending stocks of flu-fighting drugs across the nation.
The woman in the LaGrange hospital had traveled to Cancun, Mexico, which is considered the epicenter of the outbreak. She flew there with a companion April 17, and she started feeling chills, fever and headaches about a day later, said Dr. Elizabeth Ford, head of Georgia’s Division of Public Health.
The woman flew home to Kentucky, where she lives in Bowling Green, on April 21, and two days later, still feeling ill, she drove with her 5-year-old daughter to Atlanta en route to LaGrange, where she was to attend a wedding, officials said.
Despite feeling poorly, the woman did some shopping in Atlanta between April 23 and Sunday. Officials did not say where she might have shopped. After attending the wedding, she was brought by family members to the LaGrange hospital.
The next day, the hospital tested her for general influenza and sent the sample to the state Tuesday. The state identified that she had influenza A, which is a broad group of flu types that includes swine flu.
That day, the state sent the specimen to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which confirmed that she has the same strain of swine flu, H1N1, spreading to many spots around the globe, Ford said.
The person who traveled with her to Mexico and the people close to her during her stay in Georgia have shown no symptoms of swine flu, Ford said. Some are taking a course of anti-viral drugs as a precaution.
Officials are in the process of identifying people who came in contact with the woman on the plane and during her time in Kentucky and Georgia.
Dr. Susan Lance, senior director of the state Office of Protection and Safety, said it takes two to seven days for a person infected with the virus to show symptoms.
“It is very unlikely that anyone she would come in contact with while shopping in Atlanta would be at risk,” Ford said.
The woman is being kept in an isolated “negative pressure room,” which means the air is regularly cleaned of any airborne pathogens. Doctors and nurses caring for her are wearing masks, gloves and gowns.
The state lab has received 48 specimens to test, and 23 have tested negative. An additional 24 are pending results.
State health officials say they have no plans to close schools or other public institutions.
Staff writers Nancy Badertscher, Larry Hartstein, Shelia Poole, Kristina Torres and The Associated Press
