Spring Break
Colorado confirms two cases of swine flu
Kristen Wyatt The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: News
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The baggage handler, a United Airlines employee in his 40s who lives in Douglas County south of Denver, was hospitalized but is expected to be released Thursday, officials said. They said it was unlikely he got the virus from baggage.
"The virus doesn't last too long on inanimate surfaces," said Dr. Chris Urbina, director of the Denver Public Health Department.
The woman is in her 30s and lives in Arapahoe County southeast of Denver. She went on a cruise to Mexico and spent several days in San Diego, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.
She wasn't hospitalized, said Dr. Ned Calonge (kuh-LANZH'), the department's chief medical officer.
Both got sick April 26. Health officials couldn't say whether the woman passed through Denver International Airport on her Mexico trip but conceded it was likely. They insisted that the airport is safe and that precautions beyond good hygiene are unnecessary for air travelers.
United Airlines spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said the handler last reported to work April 23.
Johnson didn't know whether the handler showed flu symptoms before leaving work, though state health officials said they don't think his co-workers are at risk because he stayed home.
United is the airport's largest carrier.
For days, the airport has been offering information in English and Spanish to employees and passengers on the disease. Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon said nothing had changed Thursday.
Southwest Airlines spokesman Paul Flaningan said the airline was ready to offer gloves to baggage handlers if they want them. Frontier Airlines was sticking with existing plans, including on-plane kits for crews who have sick fliers.
All hard surfaces in lavatories are wiped down with an anti-bacterial wipe after every flight, and each plane gets a heavy cleaning each day, Frontier spokesman Steve Snyder said.
A spokesman with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency hasn't kept track of whether other swine flue victims worked at airports or for airlines.
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