Reply #8: Up until a few days ago, Texas had only ONE machine to test for swine

[rainbow4321]

Gawd...the entire state had one machine.


http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/swineflu/entries/2009/05/03/cdc_officials_says_us_not_out.html

A leading official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the swine flu outbreak is percolating throughout the United States, as Texas reported 43 confirmed cases — four more than yesterday.


The numbers in Texas could change quickly, too. The state lab received so many nasal swabs last week it could not keep up. A Department of State Health Services spokesman said on Friday that the lab had tested just 181 of 2,492 swabs sent since April 22. It has just one testing machine but was adding three more, in addition to more personnel and two shifts so it could catch up, spokesman Doug McBride said. The CDC also said it was sending supplies to the states so they could confirm their own tests.

Schuchat said there are encouraging signs that the virus is not that severe, but “we do remain cautious (because) it is too soon for us to know how this is going to play out.” She also is encouraged because the flu is showing signs of weakening its spread in Mexico where it started, but she is cautious, she said, because flu is unpredictable