Local health agencies said Tuesday they were prepared to deal with the swine flu threat in the event the virus is detected here.
"State and local governments have a pandemic plan in place," said Zona Wick, director of the Iron County, Wis., Health Department.
In the event the virus begins to spread rapidly the ICHD would contact state and local partners and open their emergency center, which in Iron County is the Hurley K-12 School, Wick said. If Iron County partners with Gogebic County, Gogebic Community College would act as the emergency location.
Wisconsin reports it is still virus free after all 10 possible cases being tested there came back negative, Wick reported Tuesday. Results from the probable case in Michigan have not come back, but are expected today, according to a press release from the state of Michigan's Joint Information Center.
Confirmed swine flu cases in the United States rose to 64 Tuesday, with an additional 17 cases in New York, three in California and four in Texas.
Wick said Iron County has plenty of personal protective equipment, including masks, gowns and gloves, if it is needed. There are respiratory systems available for the health department nurses so they can treat without being infected.
"We could appropriately respond," Wick said.
Dr. Teresa Frankovich, medical director for the Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department said the WUPDHD has been preparing for a flu pandemic for years. The plan includes city, county and state governments and hospitals, health departments and emergency medical services.
"There's a lot of infrastructure in place that probably wasn't there 10 years ago," Frankovich said. "My hope is that this will be mild but it's good to know that these things are in place."
"Michigan has a stock pile of medication and some will be distributed locally," said Ray Sharp, emergency preparedness manager for the WUPDHD, though the number of regimens expected here was unavailable.
Grand View Health System in Ironwood reported the emergency room has been receiving calls from concerned people and is assuring people they are always prepared in the event of an emergency. GVHS has been working with the local health departments to develop triage protocol if becomes necessary.
Michigan's JIC reported that Governor Jennifer Granholm partially activated state's Emergency Operations Center to provide information about the swine flu outbreak and ensure a collaborative response to any case, a press release said.
On a national level, the Center for Disease Control has announced a public health emergency and has activated its Emergency Operations Centers. Doing this allows for 25 percent of the 49.9 million regimens of anti-viral drugs from the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed around the U.S., approximately 11 million doses. It is also releasing masks, respirators, gowns, gloves and face shields.
"There are sufficient stocks of anti-viral medications," Frankovich said.
Wisconsin has anti-virals to cover 20 percent of the population, Wick said.
Statistically that is what most states have, she added. The federal government is sending anti-virals to states with positive swine flu cases first.
"Wisconsin has requested it, but states with cases are priority," Wick said.
The CDC reports the outbreak in the U.S. is still limited to five states. There have been hospitalizations but no reported deaths in the U.S. from the virus.
"Even with the additional cases they have all been mild and similar to the seasonal flu," Frankovich said.
Internationally cases have been reported in Mexico, Canada, Spain and Scotland. Those cases are reportedly from recent travel to Mexico. The CDC also recommends no non-essential travel to Mexico.
GVHS, ICHD and WUPDHD all reiterated the fact that standard precautions to avoid catching a virus apply to the swine flu too -- wash hands frequently or use hand sanitizer, avoid contact with ill people, cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, stay home if showing flu-like symptoms.
For more information go to www.cdc.gov/swineflu.
