Michigan swine flu deaths rise

---

By: Christina Stolarz and Mike Martindale on 2009-06-19
The Detroit News

Cop, 2 others in Metro area latest victims; Oakland leads in cases statewide

Lansing—Three new Michigan swine flu deaths were confirmed Thursday as health officials identified Oakland County as having more than half of the state’s cases.

Oakland County has 306 probable and confirmed swine flu cases. That’s nearly half of the state’s 655 instances and state health officials aren’t sure why the county has experienced the uptick.

“When we first started reporting these numbers, Kent County was in the lead,” said James McCurtis, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Community Health. “Now it’s Oakland County. Maybe it’s because of the amount of people. It doesn’t matter if you travel or not at this point. The flu is being transferred person-to-person now.”

Oakland County has 1.2 million people and 605,200 live in Kent County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Health officials in Oakland County attribute the large number to area doctors actively testing for the swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus.

Meanwhile, state health officials reported Thursday that five swine flu-related deaths have occurred in Michigan, including the 28-year-old Madison Heights police officer who died last week.

The three new confirmed cases include Officer Ryan Settlemoir of Macomb Township, who died June 12; a 63-year-old Macomb County woman who died Wednesday; and a 44-year-old Oakland County man who died Monday, according to the state health department. The identities of the victims were withheld by state and local health officials.

State health officials said details of underlying health conditions of the victims were not available.

The deaths follow those of Reva Miller, 53, of Warren, who died June 1 and was the first Michigan fatality of the swine flu, and a 58-year-old Roscommon man who died earlier this month.

And, they say, the death toll will likely rise.

“Unfortunately, people die from seasonal flu and so seeing a number of deaths for H1N1 in Michigan is not anything out of the ordinary,” McCurtis said.

“I’m sure more will occur because of the history of seasonal flu and what’s going on across the country.”

The World Health Organization last week declared a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, as infections climbed to nearly 30,000.

Nationwide, there have been 17,855 confirmed and probable cases in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. There have been 44 deaths nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

In Michigan, 655 confirmed and probable cases of the swine flu have been found, including 36 cases in Wayne, 26 in Macomb and 16 in Livingston counties, according to the MDCH Web site.

“It is not a time to panic,” said Kathy Forzley, manager of the Oakland County Health Division.

“It’s a time to consider that this is an influenza that’s here in our community and we all need to be practicing good prevention.”

Forzley urged people to wash their hands frequently and cover their noses and mouths when coughing and sneezing.

Meanwhile, community residents gathered Tuesday at Antioch Baptist Church in Warren to mourn the loss of Settlemoir, who became ill last month with 22 other officers in his department. The others have recovered and are back on the job.

Settlemoir had other underlying health conditions, according to the health department.

cstolarz@detnews.com (313) 222-2650

---