U.S. swine flu detected via pandemic test

• Tweet

ATLANTA, April 27 (UPI) -- The first case of U.S. swine flu was identified in San Diego as part of a study of pandemic preparedness, a federal health official said.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said Monday that the study involved the development of news test kits for doctors to swab the mouth of patients and send the results to a laboratory as part of a process to monitor the spread of influenza.

"One of the things we're doing is we're helping states support themes and so we're sending test kits to states so that states will be able to do their own testing," Besser said a news conference.

"It's important to note that is that we're nearing the end of the flu season and often in outbreaks of influenza you'll see a decline in the number of cases because it's the end of flu season and we can't rest too comfortably on that because something it comes back again in the fall when flu season comes back."

Besser added that there is a stockpile of medication and other supplies helpful in managing an outbreak.

"We released 25 percent of the state's allocation of the stockpile," Besser said. "This is 11 million courses of anti-viral drugs."