Swine Flu Virginia

Virginia health officials soon will be able to test suspected cases of swine flu in state labs, cutting down on the time it takes to determine if someone has the disease.

Most testing now is being done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Virginia Department of Health planning director Bob Mauskapf says the state lab will have test kits later this week and local health departments could get them next week, cutting the response time from days to hours.

Mauskapf would not say how many suspected cases of swine flu there were in Virginia. There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu.

Across the country, there have been 64 cases of swine flu, but no deaths. In Mexico, more than 150 people have died from the flu.

The Virginia Department of Health says it is closely following cases of swine flu that have been identified in California, Texas and Mexico.
   
The department is asking all health care providers across Virginia to be suspicious of any cases of influenza-like illness.

Officials say there have been no reported cases of the illness in Virginia.
   
Swine flu is a respiratory disease that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs.

Because the virus can mutate, human infections can occasionally occur.

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to seasonal influenza.
   
The Center for Disease Control has determined that this virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human.

But they have not yet determined how easily the virus spreads between people.