In the “Swine Influenza A (H1N1) Infection in Two Children --- Southern California, March-April 2009” article published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on April 21, 2009, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked the state public health laboratories to send in all influenza A specimens that could not be subtyped. And three samples of a virus were identified in Imperial County California and San Diego County hospitals and sent to CDC laboratory for further testing and they confirmed that these samples were positive for the virus that would be called “2009 H1N1.”
On April 22, 2009 the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was activated by CDC, to coordinate the public’s response to this emerging virus. Response activities were organized in team structures according to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The teams had different concentration area such as antiviral medications, at-risk populations, communications, laboratory issues, surveillance, traveler’s health issues and vaccine. As the outbreak occurred continuously, these structures and team staffing were occasionally evaluated for functionality and utility.
