2 Augusta military men among probable flu cases

Two members of the military from Augusta are probable cases of novel influenza virus A H1N1 but it is unclear whether they are in the Augusta area or are stationed in Texas, a Georgia health official said Wednesday.

They are among four new probable cases of the new virus; those cases have a more than 95 percent chance of being confirmed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified the state of the two cases Wednesday morning, said Dr. Susan Lance, senior director of the office of protection and safety for the Georgia Division of Public Health. Because the military appears to send all of its suspected cases to Texas for testing, it is unclear where the military members might be, Dr. Lance said. Georgia's first confirmed case was a woman from Kentucky so she is counted by the CDC as a Kentucky case even though she was tested and diagnosed in Georgia, she said.

"Just in that way, these two people are Georgia residents so they are going to be called Georgia cases," Dr. Lance said. "But it's unclear exactly where they resided and where they were actually ill." They are simply listed as Augusta-area residents, she said.

The military sends its case information to the CDC to notify the states, she said. Dr. Lance believes that both Augusta cases are men but could provide no other details.

The two other probable cases are an 8-year-old Clayton County girl and a 13-year-old boy in Henry County. There were 22 specimens still being processed Wednesday morning. The probable cases are sent to the CDC for confirmation. So far, the state has had four confirmed cases of the novel H1N1.

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control also added another confirmed case Wednesday, boosting its number to 17. Sixteen of those are associated with a school trip to Mexico by Newberry Academy in Newberry; one case is from Charleston, DHEC said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.