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Update: Marshalltown Community School District will be closed until Monday, May 11.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that a sample from a southeast Iowa woman sent by state officials for testing contains the H1N1 flu virus. As promised, Gov. Chet Culver has declared a public health emergency.
The Iowa woman who tested positive recently returned from a trip to Mexico. She resides in Des Moines County in far southeastern Iowa and traveled in both Muscatine and Johnson counties.
A sample sent at the same time from an adult male who was visiting Clinton County has tested negative for the H1N1 virus.
To date there is one confirmed H1N1 case in Iowa and at least seven other probable cases from Marshall and Tama counties that have been sent to the CDC for testing. Because the cases in Marshall County involve school-aged children, the Marshalltown Community School District will be closed until Monday, May 11. (See comments below to read the press release about the school closing.)
“On the state level, we are taking every precaution to help prevent the spread of this disease,” Culver said. “We continue to monitor the situation, both in Iowa and around the country. As Governor, I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that Iowans stay healthy and safe.”
The Governor’s public health disaster declaration gives the state additional flexibility that may be needed to carry out the work of protecting the health of Iowans by allowing for several provisions, including:
As a part of the state’s public disaster response, the Iowa Department of Public Health has activated a coordination center in the Lucas Building in Des Moines to facilitate information sharing between the state and local health care providers, state agencies and private partners. The Iowa Department of Public Safety is coordinating with the state health department to ensure safe storage and delivery of anti-viral medications to state regions that require them.
“We have known that this virus can and will spread, so I am saddened, but not surprised to learn that H1N1 has hit our state,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin. “Keep in mind, the flu season impacts Iowans every year, but what makes the H1N1 outbreak different is that we have not seen this strain before. The fact remains that we are prepared to address it and also better prepared to develop a vaccine against this particular flu. Existing resources such as funding for state and local public health officials as well as an existing stockpile of antivirals have already started going out to states.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 44 million courses of the stockpile have been shipped with Iowa receiving over 109,520 courses of antivirals and over 446,405 units of personal protective equipment for public health officials.
As chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that funds health programs, Harkin has taken the lead in providing funding to prepare for a future flu pandemic. Since Fiscal Year 2006, his subcommittee has provided more than $6 billion for these activities. President Obama has requested $1.5 billion to respond to the current influenza and Harkin is working to include funding in the supplemental spending bill currently moving through Congress.
Yesterday, Harkin introduced The Seasonal Influenza and Pandemic Preparation Act of 2009, legislation that would establish a nationwide voluntary influenza vaccination program under which any individual may receive an annual influenza vaccine, free of charge.
State and federal officials continue to urge the public to take necessary precautions to help stop the spread of the virus.
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