The Santa Rosa County Health Department has a plan to protect residents in case of a flu pandemic.

The department is leading the county’s planning and response efforts, in accordance with Florida Statutes and the county’s pandemic influenza plan.

 

Santa Rosa County’s Division of Emergency Management and our school district are currently engaged in unified planning efforts to coordinate a potential response. We will communicate timely information to our residents, and we will take appropriate actions to protect the public’s health.

 The health department has intensified disease surveillance efforts, and increased communication with local physicians and hospitals to provide updated guidance and information. The health department is investigating all instances of influenza-like illnesses, and we have had no confirmed cases in Santa Rosa County as of 4 p.m. on April 30.

 

The health department encourages residents with influenza-like illnesses and their close family contacts to stay at home to avoid spreading illness to others. Recommended actions include:

 

• Continue to practice measures that are used to prevent seasonal flu
•  If you feel sick, stay home from work or school, and contact your physician right away.
• Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or appear ill.
•  Wash your hands frequently.

 

More information for residents is available at www.cdc.gov/swineflu, http://www.santarosa.fl.gov; or by calling the Florida Department of Health’s Swine Flu Information Line at 1-800-775-8039.