The Texas County Health Department is closely monitoring the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and parts of the United States, although there are no reported cases in the county.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 40 cases in the nation. The health department is working with area healthcare providers and partners to ensure a ready response should a case be reported in the community. Staff continues to stay current on developing information from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The health department encourages area residents to remain informed and continue to practice common sense disease prevention methods such as good hand washing, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth and keeping a distance of at least six feet from anyone who may have a flu-like illness.
People who have recently traveled to areas with confirmed cases of swine flu or have had close personal contact with someone who has a confirmed case and have developed flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, body aches, tiredness, chills, cough or runny or stuffy nose should contact their healthcare provider.
Two antiviral medications are being used successfully to treat the circulating strain of swine flu. Antiviral medication is available only with a prescription.
Swine flu is a respiratory virus found in pigs. It has been known to spread to humans in the past.