By Liz Bowie and Stephanie Desmon , liz.bowie@baltsun.com and stephanie.desmon@baltsun.com|May 05, 2009
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Monday four cases of swine flu in Maryland, including a student at Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore County and a preschooler from Anne Arundel County.
They are the first Maryland cases to be confirmed by the federal agency since the state's department of health began detecting probable cases last Wednesday. Nine more specimens from the state are awaiting testing at the CDC's swine flu testing laboratory in Atlanta, where there is a backlog of cases. Five more samples arrived at Maryland's testing lab on Monday and more are expected from doctors' offices across the state. The state expects to be able to perform confirmation tests as early as Tuesday.
"I don't think we've reached the crest yet," said John M. Colmers, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Probable cases of the virus - now being referred to as H1N1 - prompted Gov. Martin O'Malley last week to shutter five state schools where students appear to have been sickened: Milford Mill; Rockville High in Montgomery County; Folger McKinsey Elementary in Anne Arundel County; and Montpelier and University Park elementary schools in Prince George's County. The schools will be closed for up to 14 days, and extracurricular activities also are canceled.
State health officials have announced no new school closures.
Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for O'Malley, said the schools will remain closed at least for Tuesday. "We're still looking at more possible cases in those schools," he said, adding that the school closing policy could be revisited.
The closings came at a crucial time for some high school students who were scheduled to take Advanced Placement tests this week and next. In Montgomery County, students were sent to a building used for alternative programs. Rockville students were segregated in classrooms not used by other students and were supposed to sit in desks six feet apart, said Kate Harrison, a spokeswoman for the school district.
The district plans to continue allowing the students to take AP exams there until schools are reopened.
In Baltimore County, AP tests were canceled for Milford Mill Academy students, but alternative arrangements can be made for them to take the AP tests at another time.
Baltimore County plans to reopen Milford Mill on Thursday, after a second cleaning, according to Kara Calder, a spokeswoman.
State education officials said Monday they would make an announcement on arranging for students to take the High School Assessments at a different time if their school is closed next week when the tests are given.
"Although we don't know how long this event will last, our intention is to be as flexible with schools as possible both with school time missed and assessments," said William Reinhard, a spokesman.
Sun reporter Kelly Brewington contributed to this article.
elsewhere
* 1,276 confirmed cases worldwide; fewer than 300 in the U.S.
* Twenty-six people died of the flu, including one in the U.S.
* Mexico will allow cafes, museums and libraries to reopen this week.
* In the U.S., 533 schools enrolling about 330,000 children had closed.
