Jax Daily

Florida braces for swine flu

Tue, Apr 28, 2009 by Austin Cassidy

Orlando, a major point for travel to Mexico and Central America, and one of the world’s top tourist destinations, is getting ready to deal with a potential outbreak of what’s being called the “swine” flu. So far the virus has killed 150 or so in Mexico and hospitalized thousands more. It should be noted that a mortality rate has not been established yet. And Mexico’s health infrastructure lags far behind the United States. Officials are calling for calm at this time, with no solid proof that the virus will become a “pandemic” at this time. The state is planning to increase its stock of Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug believed to combat the illness, from 120,000 doses to half a million over the next few weeks, according to the Department of Health.

With confirmed cases being reported in New York and elsewhere across the United States, it seems almost certain that Florida will begin reporting some confirmed cases by week’s end.

In fact, there was already an incorrectly reported case of swine flu in the Orlando area, blamed on a visiting tourist from Mexico…

An e-mail sent by one of Florida Hospital’s top doctors sent health officials into a flurry today because he incorrectly confirmed the first case of the deadly swine flu in Orlando.

In the e-mail, Dr. Loran Hauck, Chief Medical Officer at Florida Hospital said, “a case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit.”

At a rushed press conference, Florida Hospital’s vice president Dr. Scott Brady said there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in Orlando.

“In this case, if it was implied that it was swine flu, that was a misstatement,” Brady said. “We have not had any confirmations from the CDC. We’ve had two or three cases of positive influenza. We should know about these in 48 hours.”