Swine flu scare hits Arizona hard

State health officials say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three additional cases of swine flu in Arizona.

Three school-aged children in the Chandler Unified School District have been identified as having contracted swine flu and all are recovering. None of the three required hospitalization.

In response and in accordance with CDC guidelines, Maricopa County's health director, Bob England, has decided to dismiss students from Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary School for seven calendar days. There is no known relationship between these three students. One of the cases had been home during the infectious period and could not have infected anyone in his/her school.

The cases confirmed today bring the total in the state to four.

Since Sunday, the state Department of Health Services has sent 56 flu samples to the CDC in Atlanta, and 52 are pending. It's not clear when those results are expected.

The first positive case was confirmed Wednesday in an 8-year-old northwest Phoenix boy. Although he had already recovered and returned to school, health officials ordered his school closed for a week to prevent the disease from spreading.

The swine flu virus is a new type of virus never seen in people until it was discovered last week. It is a combination of swine, avian and human influenza, and responds well when treated with anti-virals. The swine flu has the same symptoms as regular or seasonal influenza: sudden onset of high fever, runny nose, body aches and exhaustion. Some people with the swine flu have nausea and diarrhea.