Travelers bring swine flu to Bonners Ferry

Boundary County has its first confirmed case of swine flu, and up to seven more may be carrying the deadly infection.

Dr. Troy Geyman, chief of the medical staff at Boundary Community Hospital, on Monday planned to notify the medical community.

The Idaho State Laboratory on Friday confirmed that an unidentified woman in her 20s, who was visiting Bonners Ferry, has the flu, said Cynthia Taggart, public information officer with the Panhandle Health District in Hayden.

The woman was among 105 people on an Evangelical mission, who last week traveled on buses to Bonners Ferry, Taggart said. The woman was tested in Eastern Idaho, but did not get the results until arriving in Bonners Ferry. She was then isolated until she’s no longer contagious.

Upon arriving in Bonners Ferry, 45 others from the buses experienced flu-like symptoms, including coughing, aches and severe sore throat, said Geyman, who is with Bonners Ferry Family Medicine.

Seven tested positive for Influenza A and were then tested for swine flu, Geyman said. Results will not be available until late this week, but they are being treated for swine flu.

“The fact that someone in their group had a documented confirmed case of H1N1 (swine flu), it does make the possibility a lot higher,” he said.

Geyman got a telephone call on Thursday evening about the group’s concerns for the swine flu. None had insurance and Geyman treated everyone at no charge.

“They needed to be tested,” he said.

Geyman and a nurse spent about seven hours seeing patients after closing the office to the public for the day.

“They came through the back door and we had designated rooms (for patients),” Geyman said. “We took precautions, wore masks and washed hands.”

He also suggested the group, many of whom had California addresses, do nothing “public.”

It’s believed the victims were coming to Bonners Ferry to do community service work and represented a new church group from San Diego, Calif. They planned to work with the elderly in Bonners Ferry, hold an overnight event for teens and host a public church service.

They also reportedly stayed in a motel in Ponderay, but the health district was unable to determine which one, Taggart said.

The Herald was unable to reach anyone with the congregation, which has purchased Wellspring Community Church.

The U.S. has 13,217 confirmed and probable cases, up from more than 10,000 last week, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 27 confirmed deaths.

Symptoms include fever, sore throat, cough, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Panhandle Health District advises that anyone with particularly the first three symptoms stay home and keep their distance from other people for seven days or until the symptoms end, whichever is longer. People should call a health care provider if symptoms become unmanageable.

Health authorities believe H1N1 spreads through the air like the seasonal flu. Because H1N1 is a new virus, people have little to no immunity to it. Symptoms, too, are similar to the seasonal flu. Only a test can identify the virus causing the illness.

No vaccine is available yet to prevent catching the new virus.