Grant County health officials said Thursday that reports from health care providers and schools confirm there's a swine flu outbreak in the county.
Since Sept. 1, health care facilities have reported 235 people who tested positive for Influenza A, which is a broader category of influenza viruses that includes H1N1, also known as swine flu.
Eighty of those tests came between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, the Grant County Health District said.
Because the majority of the nationwide Influenza A samples being sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control are confirmed to be swine flu, health officials assume that the flu cases they're seeing now are swine flu.
Five Grant County school districts have reported absentee rates higher than 10 percent, with some nearing 20 percent of students out sick.
Health and school officials are asking parents to keep sick children home and not send them to school until 24 hours after a fever has passed without the use of fever-reducing medications.
The health district expects to vaccinate children on-site at schools once the swine flu shot is available.