In the face of the swine flu outbreak that is spreading across the world, officials are cautioning against jumping to conclusions about the Tuesday death of a 6-year-old boy in Las Cruces.
“We recognize the community is concerned about swine flu, but I wish to be clear that we have zero evidence or test results that would lead us to speculate that this tragedy is part of the media-fed frenzy surrounding this unfolding world health story,” Doña Ana County Manager Brian Haines said in a prepared statement.
There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu in New Mexico. Chris Minnick, spokesman for the state Department of Health, said in an interview that the state has identified two “probable” cases — a one-year-old boy in Santa Fe County and an 18-year-old man in Valencia County — and sent samples to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for testing.
He said results should be back in one or two days, and the department will announce any confirmed cases to the media as soon as they are available.
The statements from Haines and Minnick came after the Las Cruces Sun-News reported this afternoon that tests would determine whether the death of the boy was related to the swine flu outbreak. Cody Scarbrough was sent home from school on Tuesday with a fever and died soon thereafter.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Reynaud was quoted by the Sun-News as saying that the child had no symptoms prior to Tuesday. He said the child’s death originally seemed to be caused by a heart attack but could have been caused by “anything from carbon monoxide to a birth defect.”
Minnick said the medical investigator has not, at this time, determined that swine flu may have caused the boy’s death. If it does, it will contact the health department, which will send samples to the CDC for testing.
In his statement, Haines said it would be “irresponsible for any party to speculate that this particular situation is connected to any flu virus.”
“It’s critical that we stay calm and focused, and let the Department of Health be the source of all information related to health matters in the State of New Mexico,” Haines said. “The death of a child is a tragedy in itself. To compound it through viral speculation or community panic would only make a sad situation even worse for our community.”