Somerville confirms swine flu case; Tufts bolsters preparations

    Somerville city officials announced on May 5 a confirmed case of swine flu in the city. As fears of a possible pandemic continue, Tufts administrators have formulated a response if there were to be an outbreak of the virus on campus.
    The case was reported around April 29 to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), which sent testing samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The CDC confirmed to city officials on May 5 that the Somerville resident had been infected, according to City of Somerville spokesman Tom Champion.
    The Somerville patient, an adult woman, did not require hospitalization during her illness.
    "She is already fully recovered and has passed through what is expected to be her contagious period," the city said in a statement on May 5.
    The H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, is a highly contagious form of the influenza virus responsible for infecting over 3,000 people worldwide and for causing a growing number of deaths in Mexico. Over 1,600 cases have been reported within the United States, according to the CDC.
    Eighty-three cases of swine flu were confirmed in Massachusetts as of May 8.
    Champion credited the patient with helping to limit the possibility of exposure. At the first sign of illness, "she immediately self-isolated and called her primary care physician," he said.
    None of her known contacts appear to have contracted the illness yet, Champion confirmed on May 8. He added that at this point, no "institutional exposures" have appeared, meaning contact with schools or other high-density public places.
    The quickness with which the swine flu scare rose to national prominence prompted a reaction on the Hill.
    Before any cases of the illness were confirmed in Massachusetts, the University-Wide Task Force on Pandemic Planning offered preventative measures and reassurance of the university's preparedness in the event of an outbreak in an e-mail sent to the Tufts community on April 28.
    "We will continue to monitor the situation and assess the possible implications of a pandemic outbreak," the e-mail said.
    The task force is chaired by Senior Director of Public Safety John King and includes representatives from every campus, including the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Dental Medicine, Health Service Medical Director Margaret Higham told the Daily.
    It has been in operation for almost three years, according to Higham, who is also a member of the task force.
    The task force has held monthly meetings since its inception, putting together what Higham called a "pandemic matrix" — a document detailing the steps involved at different stages in response to the development of a pandemic influenza.
    Higham praised the responsiveness and cooperation of the task force in taking on-campus precautions.
    "I think that the departments have worked together pretty nicely," she said. "We haven't been tested that severely, because there wasn't an outbreak, but I feel like the level of concern and attention on the part of the people on the task force has been excellent."
    In spite of the national outbreak, Higham did not consider the campus swept up in the hysteria. The mood at Health Service was best characterized as normal.
    "I did not at all feel like there was any sort of panic," Higham said. "At this time of year, we're busy at Health Service anyway. We're always seeing sick students."
    Champion was also positive about the city's response to the problem, though he hesitated to declare victory over the illness.
    "All we can say is that it appears that this case was handled, especially by the person who got sick, as well as it could possibly be handled," he said.