The Office of the Medical Investigator has ruled out swine flu as the cause of the Tuesday death of a 6-year-old Las Cruces boy, Doña Ana County announced this afternoon in a news release.
The news release states that, despite initial media reports, “investigators say the boy never exhibited flu-like symptoms.”
“Due to federal privacy laws regarding patient medical information, and out of respect for the grieving family, no further information will be released,” the county’s news release states.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reported on Wednesday that tests would determine whether swine flu caused the boy’s death. The newspaper, quoting an official with the sheriff’s department, said the boy was sent home from school with a fever on Tuesday and died at about 5 p.m.
After that article was published on the newspaper’s Web site, County Manager Brian Haines released a statement indicating that there was “zero evidence” that swine flu caused the boy’s death.