New Hampshire health officials have identified two "probable" cases of swine flu in the state, Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H., announced at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. Both of the affected individuals, in addition to a third person who is "suspected" to have swine flu, are employees at Concord Hospital. It is "very likely" swine flu will spread to the College, director of Health Services John Turco said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"The fortunate thing is that so far for the cases reported in the United States, the symptoms have been mild to moderate flu-like symptoms that do get better within a week with or without treatment," Turco said.
One of the "probable cases" went to work at the hospital while exhibiting symptoms and may have been contagious, N.H. State Public Health director Jose Montero and other state health officials said at the press conference. All patients, visitors and other hospital employees who may have come in contact with the individual are being contacted and treated as necessary, he added.
It is unclear whether the third "suspect case" also worked while exhibiting symptoms, Montero said.
Specimens from both of the probable cases have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. to confirm whether the individuals were infected with the H1N1 virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak.
Concord Hospital is still running and is safe for patients to receive care, Lynch said.
The state will implement its contingency plans if the cases are confirmed to involve swine flu, Chris Pope, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for New Hampshire's Department of Safety, said at the press conference.
"There are a number of other activities going on around the state, issues and procedures we have trained and exercised in," Pope said.
Officials recommended that people wash their hands frequently, cover their mouths and noses when sneezing or coughing, and seek evaluation if they exhibit flu-like symptoms.
"If this situation continues to evolve and grow, antivirals will be used to treat people with high risk of complications or those who are already ill," Montero said at the press conference. "That way we prevent the misuse of antivirals, and we keep them for the people who will really benefit from them."
Turco said Dartmouth officials have worked for the past couple of years with the New Hampshire Public Health Department, which has been in coordination with the CDC, to prepare a contingency plan.
"We're meeting and looking at the number of protective devices we have, such as masks," Turco said.
The New Hampshire Public Health Department, the College's Emergency Planning Committee and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Preparedness Committee have coordinated daily to begin implementing some of the plans they have developed over the past few years, Turco said.
Turco recommended students use "good personal hygiene" in order to minimize the spread of the disease.
"So if we have a good case of swine flu, which I think is very likely, we'd try to do the best we could to prevent it from spreading to a large number of students," Turco said. "If it does, if enough students get ill, it's like every year if we have an outbreak of flu -- it really does disrupt the campus."
Jason Aldous, media relations manager for DHMC, suggested that while the medical center has yet to make any significant operational changes, that may change on Friday if the "probable" swine flu cases are confirmed.
"We're in the same mode we've been all week, a higher level of vigilance," Aldous said. "That situation may be very different tomorrow morning, but that's where we are right now."
Turco said that he believes it is likely the cases will be confirmed as swine flu tomorrow.
Separately, the Boston Public Health Commission put out an alert Thursday evening stating that the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine will be closed until a "probable" case of swine flu is investigated.
The alert did not indicate the closure of any other schools in the university.
