CUMBERLAND — After Allegany County health officials said rumors are one of the biggest threats they are battling with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, a few hours later, there was a prime example.

During third period Thursday at Mountain Ridge High School, it was discussed that a sophomore student had recently returned from a cruise to Mexico and had developed flu-like symptoms.

The incident left school officials and representatives of the Allegany County Health Department — and the media — following something that didn’t exist.

“That is not true,” said Joe Carter, assistant principal at Mountain Ridge, on Friday morning. “There is no confirmed evidence that we have anyone at Mountain Ridge with swine flu. If we had, we would obviously hear from a physician or someone from the health department. They would have told us what we needed to do.”

Carter said no such communication had taken place between the school, the board of education and the health department regarding a specific individual.

“The school nurse has talked to everyone she needed to talk to,” Carter said. “Neither the health department nor the doctor has contacted the school saying any individual has swine flu.”

Carter said the student in question was in school Friday.

Reached late Thursday night, Brenda Caldwell of the health department said an individual might have to meet at least one of a number of factors — other than flu-like symptoms — for a sample to be tested for swine flu. Travel to Mexico, or contact with someone who has recently returned from an area known to have the virus, is just one of those factors.

As of Friday afternoon, the state laboratory had sent 11 probable swine flu cases to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing, with results expected over the weekend. There were still no confirmed cases in the state.

For updates and H1N1 flu information, log on to www.alleganyhealthdept.com.

Caldwell said she was surprised to learn that the annual flu season results in the death of some 18,000 Americans each year due to the flu or complications of the virus — and it doesn’t get as much attention as this novel flu strain.

“This is really nowhere near as big an issue,” she said. “It’s still a concern — people don’t have antibodies (to the strain). But (the death toll) kind of brought it into perspective for me.”

Maryland officials closed schools in Prince George’s County, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Anne Arundel County because of probable swine flu cases.

Gov. Martin O’Malley said that although Maryland still has no confirmed swine flu cases, guidelines from the CDC direct schools with probable cases be closed for up to 14 days.

O’Malley signed an executive order Friday afternoon declaring a public health emergency for the state after the CDC issued its directive.

Officials closed Rockville High School in Montgomery County after a disabled student became the ninth person in the state with a probable case of the illness.

Other schools closed by Maryland officials are Montpelier Elementary School in Prince George’s County; Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore County; and Folger McKinsey Elementary School in Severna Park in Anne Arundel County.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.





Precautions in place



• Maryland residents who have questions about the swine flu outbreak can call (877)-MDFLU4U (633-5848) weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. E-mail can be sent to swineflu@dhmd.state.md.us. For more information, log on to www.maryland.gov.

• The Archdiocese of Baltimore has recommended that Communion is received by hand only and to suspend physical contact during the sign of peace. The Catholic church is also increasing attention to hand-washing and sterilization of sacred vessels.

• Allegany County schools are equipped with anti-bacterial foam soap dispensers and no-touch paper towel dispensers. Hands-free, automatic hand-sanitizing stations are in use at the building entrances and in the cafeterias. Bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizers are available for classroom use.

• The Better Business Bureau cautions computer users to avoid opening e-mail from unknown sources concerning swine flu. Some e-mails link to online pharmacies that offer vaccinations, even though they don’t exist. For more information, log on to www.cdc.gov/swineflu.

• The West Virginia University Extension Service recommends thorough hand-washing as the best defense against flu. The agency cautions that although hand sanitizers work within seconds and kill most common germs, your hands must be clean first for the alcohol-based product to be effective.