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Walton ready for swine flu outbreak
Published April 29, 2009
WALTON COUNTY — If the deadly swine flu creeps into the county, local health and emergency personnel say they are ready to fight it.
“Basically, right now were are in what is called ‘alert,’” said Lorri Tanner, county nurse manager of the Walton County Health Department. “However, with that said, we do not want to alarm the general public either at this point. We are waiting for instructions. We are definitely prepared.”
In addition to several states in the U.S. — though not Georgia — cases of swine flu were confirmed Tuesday in Israel and New Zealand, proof the dangerous virus has spread to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. The World Health Organization raised its pandemic threat level from 3 to 4 Monday, two levels below a full-scale pandemic.
Americans have been told not to travel to Mexico — the epicenter of the outbreak — unless needed for three months.
The suspected death toll in Mexico climbed to 149 as of Monday. Cases have been reported in Europe as well.
Local Emergency Planning Committee Director Don McCullough said because of the bird flu scare of three years ago, the county developed a pandemic-influenza preparedness guide and is prepared to handle the similar swine flu outbreak if and when it occurs.
McCullough said the committee has been talking with local hospital personnel and county and local health officials.
“There’s quite a bit (of talk),” he said. “We had a pandemic-influenza (group) that worked pretty hard for a year or so. This kind of event is what we’ve been planning for.”
The pandemic flu preparedness guide was distributed to every house in Walton County during the bird flu scare and residents should re-evaluate those precautions.
“These are a lot of the same precautions you would use as far as washing your hands with soap and water, covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough — trying to educate the public is what our main focus is,” said McCullough.
Walton County Public Schools Spokesperson Kim Embry, who is also the LEPC secretary, said the school district is currently reviewing plans to “make sure things are in order to work through anything that may happen as a result of this.”
Tony Huff, director of environmental health for the Northeast Health District which includes Walton County, said he was planning to meet with district staff and state health personnel Tuesday morning in an effort to prepare the district for a possible outbreak.
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