There are now seven confirmed cases of swine flu in Lee County.
The local cases involve: a 10-year-old boy, a 7-year-old boy, a 21-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man, an 8-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, and a 60-year-old woman.
All four Department of Health laboratories have received testing supplies from the Centers for Disease Control and now can test samples to confirm H1N1 Swine Flu. This testing capability allows the department to expedite results as state departments no longer need to send probable cases to CDC laboratories.
Florida has 55 confirmed cases. In addition to the seven in Lee, there are cases in the following counties: one in Osceola, Alachua, Indian River, Marion, Clay, Collier, Lake, Manatee, Seminole, Okeechobee, and Duval, two in Orange, Brevard and Sarasota, 3 in Pinellas, 8 in Hillsborough, and 10 in Dade and Broward each.
The increase in confirmed cases is primarily due to the cleaning of a CDC testing backlog of samples from probable cases previously submitted.
New confirmed cases are:
Osceola: 6-year-old male; Brevard: a 7-year-old female and a 7-year-old male; Sarasota: a 2-year-old male and a 10-year-old female; Pinellas: 19-year-old female and a 13-year-old male; Hillsborough: a 27- year-old male and an 11-year-old female; Broward: a 12-year-old female, a 9-year-old male, a 17-year-old female, a 3-year-old male, a 23-year-old male, and a 42-year-old male, Dade: a 23-year-old male; a 7-year-old male; a 16-year-old male, a 12-year-old female, a 16-year-old female, an 11-year-old female, and a 6-year-old (unknown sex); Manatee: a 2-year-old female; Marion: a 17-year-old female; Lake: a 29-year-old male .
The state has four probables in the following counties:
Flagler, and Palm Beach has one probable, Okaloosa has two.
CDC no longer recommends that communities with a laboratory confirmed case of influenza A H1N1 consider adopting school dismissal or childcare closure measures.
A public health emergency, declared by the State Surgeon General, remains in effect.
A toll free information line has been established for Swine Flu information. The number is 1-800- 775-8039.

Source: Department of Health