4/29/2009          
Fort Worth ISD To Close All Schools Immediately Because of Swine Flu Threat

The Fort Worth Independent School District will temporarily close all schools until further notice, effective Thursday, April 30, 2009.  Schools will likely not reopen any sooner than Monday, May 11.

This follows the official confirmation of one case of swine flu at one campus -- previously reported as a probable case --and the announcement that there are three other probable cases at three other schools.

Superintendent Melody Johnson, Mrs. Lou Brewer, director of the Tarrant County Public Health Department, and Dr. Sandra Parker, medical director of the Tarrant County Public Health Department, jointly made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday evening.

“We have been diligently following the recommendations of our local public health authorities since this crisis first began,” said Dr. Johnson.  “We will continue to work with the senior-most staff of the local health department.”

Dr. Parker additionally urged parents not to send their children to day care or any venue where groups of children may gather.  Dr. Johnson and Dr. Parker both said they realized this measure will cause a hardship, but praised the community spirit of Fort Worth in responding to this crisis.

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*This affects approximately 80,0000 students.

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Swine Flu information

WHO notches up swine flu pandemic alert
Global outbreak considered imminent; vaccine efforts will be ramped up

Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico.

New cases and deaths finally seemed to be leveling off in Mexico, where 160 people have been killed, after an aggressive public health campaign. But the World Health Organization said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus. The group raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level Wednesday, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent. It was the first time the WHO had declared a phase 5 outbreak.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan declared the phase 5 alert after consulting with flu experts from around the world. The decision could lead the global body to recommend additional measures to combat the outbreak, including for vaccine manufacturers to switch production from seasonal flu vaccines to a pandemic vaccine.

"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans," Chan told reporters in Geneva. "It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."

A phase 5 alert means there is sustained transmission among people in at least two countries. Once the virus shows effective transmission in two different regions of the world, a full pandemic outbreak - phase 6 - would be declared, meaning a global epidemic of a new and deadly disease.

"It is important to take this very seriously," Chan told a news conference watched around the globe on Wednesday. But for the average person, the term "pandemic" doesn't mean they're suddenly at greater risk.

Nearly a week after the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, was first identified in California and Texas, about 100 cases have now been confirmed in the U.S. across 11 states.  The first U.S. death from the outbreak was a Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family and died Monday night at a Houston hospital. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted the child would not be the last U.S. death from swine flu.

In addition to the 160 deaths, the virus is believed to have sickened 2,498 people across Mexico. But only 1,311 suspected swine flu patients remained hospitalized, and a closer look at daily admissions and deaths at Mexico’s public hospitals suggests the outbreak may have peaked during three grim days last week when thousands of people complained of flu symptoms.

The Mexican government has suspended all nonessential services at government offices and private businesses for five days as the country struggled to control an outbreak of swine flu that has killed eight people.

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Edited to add:
CDC
Swine Flu
Questions & Answers
Swine Influenza and You

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