* When public health officials from across the state gather this week, they are expected to prepare for a swine flu outbreak later this year. Illinois Department of Public Health Director Damon Arnold says he expects a “severe” outbreak this fall. Arnold says how the state reacts and contains the virus will be a topic at this week’s Illinois Public Health Emergency Preparedness Summit. The swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, has already sickened 33-hundred people in Illinois and killed 15. Arnold is not saying what kind of numbers he expects from a “severe” outbreak. But the safety message is not changing. Arnold and the state say your best bet for not getting sick is to wash your ands, cover your cough, and stay home if you feel sick.
* In Indiana– The state is reporting its second death from the H1N1 flu. Indiana State Department of Health officials say a Lake County person died from the H1N1 virus recently. The state is working with lake County health officials to investigate the death. Lake County has been leading the state in overall confirmed cases of the swine flu and the largest percentage of its population getting the virus.
-courtesy Iroquois County ESDA, iqesda.com