MADISON, Wis. -- The state's top public health official said that swine flu hasn't spread into the Badger state yet, but Wisconsin's health care community is making preparations

VIDEO: Watch The Report | READ: UW Expert Warns Of Possible Flu Pandemic

State Health Officer Seth Foldy said 10 samples have been tested in the state for swine flu since Saturday although none has come back positive so far. Testing on a small number of those cases continued on Monday at a state public health laboratory.

Foldy said it wouldn't be surprising if swine flu reaches Wisconsin soon. Foldy and other state health officials held a press conference on Monday morning in Madison to answer questions amid public concern.

The swine flu is a type of virus found in pigs that has mutated and is now able to pass from person to person, officials said. So far, there have been 40 confirmed cases in the U.S., six deaths in Mexico and more than 1,600 cases reported.

"This new virus has apparently adapted to person to person spread and now the question is how serious is the illness that it creates," said Foldy.

Officials said that the swine flu is acting more like the regular flu virus. Foldy said the virus can be difficult to combat.

"Flu is a tough bug because it can change, mutate very rapidly. Therefore, it takes a very high level of preparedness to be able to respond an unexpected event like this one," said Foldy.

Health officials said that a regular flu shot doesn't prevent swine flu. However, state officials said that they do have anti-virus medication that will work. These stockpiles are ready if and when needed, they said.

Foldy said the tested samples were taken from residents across the state who reported being ill. He said many of them had traveled to Mexico for spring break.

"These people of all ages, most of whom had spent some time of spring break in Mexico and then had some of these very non specific symptoms like fever cough soar throat," he said.

He said that anyone who becomes ill within seven days of traveling to Mexico or U.S. states where the virus has been detected -- or after coming in contact with someone who has -- should be tested, and contact a doctor or hospital.

"I do not consider ourselves out of the woods on this for many, many months," said Foldy.

Symptoms of swine flu are much like regular flu -- fever, coughing, body aches and a sore throat, official said. They said that to help prevent contracting swine flu, people should wash their hands regularly and after sneezing or coughing.

Officials said they're ready for any outbreak and have been training and preparing for cases like this for years, WISC-TV reported.

"The activities that we've been engaged in over the last 48 to 79 hours are those that we've been exercising now for several years," Foldy said.

Wisconsin isn't under a state of emergency, but depending on how this virus moves, state officials could potentially ask that large events be canceled.

The swine flu strain is different from even the virus that is common in pigs. It is a more successful strain because it has incorporated some of the human influenza in it, Foldy said.

Bird flu is different from swine flu in that swine flu is now mutated itself to pass from human to human, while bird flu is typically only transmitted from bird to human.

UW Officials Monitor Situation

The University of Wisconsin officials said that they have set plans in motion to do the same as their state counterparts.

"We've spent a lot of time over the last few days getting our (pandemic) plan reactivated, and we called together key campus leaders today," said Sarah Van Orman, executive director of University Health Services.

Those campus leaders said that they're encouraging the community to be vigilant about their health, especially in the densely populated residence halls. They remind that it has been weeks since many UW students hit Mexican beaches for spring break.

"We've had lots of good questions, calls from parents and other students," said Van Orman. "We do know we had a lot of students who were traveling in Mexico over the spring break time, which was several weeks ago. So, we wouldn't recommend any evaluation for those folks right now if they were to become ill other than we might ordinarily do."

Those who might be traveling are study abroad students. A UW committee will monitor any possible changes for those out of the country.

"At this point, we're not planning anything. We have no active travel restrictions or anything like that, but we do know the situation is changing over the next few hours, so we will change our recommendations based on what state and federal Health Department officials recommend," said Van Orman.

UW officials said that they only had one student studying abroad in Monterrey, Mexico, this semester. That student asked to leave and was on the way home Monday. Officials at the university in Monterrey confirmed there were confirmed swine flu cases there, but they weren't students.

Any activation on the state or federal levels would activate the UW's Pandemic plan. If those would be triggered, the UW could make changes about instruction or travel or initiate emergency communications.

Milwaukee Officials Make Preparations

Meanwhile, Milwaukee health officials are taking steps to prevent the spread of the illness. Local health officials said they are monitoring hospitals and believe it's only a matter of time before the flu arrives here.

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Bevan Baker said prevention is the best thing they can hope for.

The city has set up an information hot line in English and Spanish. The number is 414-286-3616.

For More Info:

State Of Wisconsin's Swine Flu Information