Cornell Cooperative Extension
of Westchester County

I'm sure you are all aware of the swine influenza A (swH1N1) outbreak and the public health emergency that was declared by Secretary Napolitano of the Dept. of Homeland Security. An outbreak refers to a sudden increase in the numbers of illness - in this case the swine influenza, but it does not indicate that a pandemic is an immediate threat. As Secretary Napolitano explained on Sunday, the public health emergency declaration allows the government to free up personnel and resources to respond to the outbreak.

Some basic health-related principles do apply to reduce the potential for a more severe outbreak, such as:
Frequent hand washing with soap and water.
Covering your coughs/sneezes
Staying home if you feel ill or have flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, body aches, headache, sore throat, chills, fatigue).

Below are links to good resources that you may want to download from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the NYS Department of Health that will help answer questions that you, your staff and the general public may have about the swine flu outbreak.

Swine Flu - general resources: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Swine Influenza and You: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm

NYS Department of Health Swine Flu Questions and Answers: http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/influenza/seasonal/swine_flu/swine_flu_questions_and_answers.htm

I will send additional website links, when more information becomes available.

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As of 6/15/09:

WHO: Flu pandemic alert raised to phase 6

For more information on H1N1 situation, please visit www.PandemicFlu.gov

Follow PandemicFlu.gov on Twitter

For more information please e-mail westchester@cornell.edu