BENZONIA -- A Frankfort-area man was diagnosed with Benzie County's first case of swine flu.
The man, 43, was diagnosed late last week and is recovering, said Bill Crawford, health officer with the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department.
His diagnosis also is the first confirmed case in either of the counties the department serves. A possible case in Leelanau County was negative for swine flu in May.
But it's likely the H1N1 influenza strain known as swine flu has been here already, Crawford said, since there appears to be an "upswing" in the number of people describing flu symptoms to local physicians.
"It's pretty widespread now throughout the entire United States. It would be hard to imagine that there would be none in the county," Crawford said. "There's enough interest in the area that we thought it would be worthwhile saying, 'FYI, this is here for sure now.'"
At least three other people who live in the affected man's household developed symptoms, but no tests were done because they likely contracted the virus through close contact, Crawford said. They also are recovering.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised treating the swine flu similarly to the seasonal flu. Symptoms mostly have been mild. The virus' spread was declared a pandemic in June.
Crawford said tests typically are done to determine whether an illness has reached an area, and to decide treatment procedures.
Grand Traverse County has six confirmed cases of the H1N1 strain, the first of which was diagnosed June 23 in a 29-year-old woman. Two of the cases involved teens attending a summer camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
The county's health department did not notify residents until the fifth confirmed case in mid-July. Director Fred Keeslar said he did not learn of any positive test results until he received an internal memo July 10.
Keeslar said he planned to ask his employees to send weekly updates about all communicable diseases, including swine flu, to prevent that from happening again. He said he received his first such report Monday.
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