There may not be any confirmed cases of swine flu in Hudson County but Jersey City and Hudson County officials, and representatives of local agencies were not taking any chances.
A press conference was held at the Jersey City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) on Thursday to outline what precautions city residents can take to avoid illness.
The current swine flu outbreak is due to a strain of the influenza virus common in pigs that has led to eight confirmed deaths in Mexico, where it was first detected and one confirmed death in the U.S as of Thursday. It can be spread from human to human. The symptoms include lethargy, coughing and nausea.
At the press conference, Mayor Jerramiah Healy tried to allay people’s fears of any outbreak in Jersey City and Hudson County. There were reports of five swine flu cases in Hudson County but all have checked out as not the case.
“It’s coming from medical experts that it is fine to be concerned, it’s fine to be cautious but there is no need to panic,” Healy said.
However, Dr. Michael Bessette, medical director of Jersey City Medical Center’s Emergency Department, said the hospital has seen a 10 percent increase in the past week of patients coming in with fever. But he said it is just more people “being concerned.”
Among the recommendations given were washing hands more often and staying home from work/school if coming down with the flu.
After the press conference, city workers and volunteers were handing out flyers in various languages in different parts of Jersey City. – Ricardo Kaulessar