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None of the 11 cases of the flu virus have been linked to Orange County. Nationwide, the number of cases more than doubled.
One of the new illnesses was reported in a seventh-grade boy who attends St. Mel's Catholic School in Fair Oaks near Sacramento. That school will be closed until at least Thursday while health officials investigate, according to an e-mail sent to parents. The student had recently traveled to Mexico, said Dr. Gil Chavez, the deputy director for the Center for Infectious Disease at the state's public health department.
The other three new cases were reported in San Diego and Imperial counties, where seven other illnesses occurred, Chavez said. Two more cases are under investigation in San Diego County, and officials are warning that the toll will likely continue to grow.
"We are battling a new novel virus," said Bonnie Sorensen, chief deputy director at the California Department of Public Health. "The severity of the illness in Mexico seems to be a great deal greater than here in the U.S."
Unlike in Mexico, where the swine flu has been linked to up to 149 deaths, nobody has died in the U.S. and everyone who has been reported sick has recovered. Two people in Imperial County were hospitalized, but both illnesses occurred in people who had chronic problems that put them at a greater risk, Chavez said.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday warned against any "non-essential" travel to Mexico. Fueled by the outbreak, some anti-illegal immigration activists – including the Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform, the San Diego Minutemen and the Border Patrol Auxiliary – responded Monday by calling for U.S. government officials to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border entirely.
Meanwhile, public health officials across the nation are urging people to take common-sense precautions, such as regularly washing hands and staying home if you feel sick, to avoid a widespread outbreak. The CDC's Richard Besser also encouraged local community groups, such as schools and churches, to start considering how they'll react if the swine flu hits their neighborhoods.
"It's hard to know what the course of an outbreak is going to look like until we're much more into it," Besser said.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses that cause regular outbreaks in pigs. People don't normally get it, but they can. Authorities believe this particular strain is acting like a flu virus, spreading from person to person, Besser said Monday. It cannot be spread through eating properly cooked and handled pork products.
Fear of a wider outbreak has prompted schools and local agencies to mobilize in response.
More than 375 students enrolled in Fullerton Union High School agriculture department classes were alerted today to warning signs and safety tips for the swine flu. Fliers will also be sent to parents this afternoon to allay fears of catching the disease around the pig projects.
Shannon Alcott, chairman of the agriculture department, told students all pigs at the high school have been vaccinated against the swine flu, but not against the hybrid strain. The high school buys the pigs from a farm in Tulare, she said.
"Students have been taught (that) pigs have the same symptoms as humans: stuffy noses, coughs, labored breathing," Alcott said.
"And if they have blue snouts, it's an indication of pneumonia."
Fullerton Union High School District sent out informational notices Monday to all parents and also alerted them through electronic phone calls, Alcott said. Canyon High School in Anaheim also alerted parents through electronic phone calls. And students and teachers at UC Irvine were warned against coming to campus while ill.
The scare didn't appear to affect school attendance on Monday.
Orange County's Health Care Agency has alerted hospitals and the 20 laboratories that have the capability of testing for the flu to be looking out for the swine flu.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger assured Californians during a news conference Monday that the state is monitoring the outbreak closely.
There's no vaccine for the swine flu, but antiviral drugs do work once someone has become sick. More than 1.3 million doses of antiviral drugs from the CDC's stockpile are en route to California to add to a supply already here.
They will be distributed to doctors whose patients have swine flu, and will be available to those who are infected, as well as family members or others in close contact who have a high risk of becoming sick, said Bonnie Sorensen, the chief deputy director at California's department of public health.
"The bottom line is we are prepared," Schwarzenegger said.
For more on the swine flu, click here
