Swine flu has not been confirmed in North Carolina, but the Moore County Health Department is closely monitoring the situation, just to be on the safe side.

As of now, no cases of swine flu had been confirmed anywhere in North Carolina, but state health officials are looking into a number of suspected cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did report the confirmation of 64 cases in humans in five other states -- California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio and New York.

Moore County Health Director Robert R. Wittmann said he is joining other local and state public health officials in asking all residents to stay informed about the latest developments and to follow the same health precautions they take during any flu season.

"We want Moore County citizens to know that we are closely monitoring the situation in cooperation with the CDC and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services," Wittmann said. "We will work with local health-care providers, agencies and services to ensure that everyone has the latest information on prevention, disease control, diagnosis and treatment."

On Monday the World Health Organization raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 3 to phase 4, Wittmann said.

"The change to a higher phase of pandemic alert indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable," he said. "The decision was based mainly on epidemiological data that demonstrated human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus to cause community-level outbreaks."

For more on this story, see Wednesday's print edition of The Pilot.