CDC director: All states expected to have swine flu cases

The nation will likely have cases of the H1N1, or swine flu, virus in all states before the outbreak ends, the acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

So far, said Dr. Richard Besser, speaking before the annual gathering of the Council on Foundations at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, there are more than 1,000 confirmed and probable cases in 44 states. One person, a child, has died and 30 others are hospitalized, including a 30-year-old woman in LaGrange.

What is encouraging, Besser said, is that the H1N1 virus doesn’t contain some of the traits that have been present in other severe pandemic strains.

Besser said readily accessible information is key in tackling the outbreak. That includes letting people know what to do to protect their health, their family’s health and the community’s health.

“Often with a new, emerging infection you have one chance to get out front and be very aggressive,” he said.

Speaking ahead of Besser, new Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said the H1N1 virus may be milder than orginially expected.

“We are cautiously optimistic that what we are seeing right now is presenting itself as a much milder virus than the initial cases that presented themselves in Mexico,”she said.

In her first public address since being confirmed one week ago as President Barack Obama’s health secretary. Sebelius described the virus as “great baptism by fire.”

Mexico is the epicenter of the flu outbreak that has now infected more than 1,200 people in 21 countries. Georgia has four confirmed cases.

Associated Press contributed to this report