If starting off the season 1-2 isn't bad enough, the Houston Texans have confirmed that one of their players has been hospitalized with Swine Flu, or the more accurate name, the H1N1 virus. At first, the Texans believed that rookie Tight End Anthony Hill had pneumonia but on Friday afternoon confirmed the flu diagnosis.Coach Gary Kubiak says that they do not believe any of the other players have the disease, though he did acknowledge that a number of players were sick on Thursday but were back Friday. The team is taking precautions against the spread of the disease. Kubiak says that there is no panic about the situation within the organization, and believes that Hill is recovering may be released from the hospital this afternoon.
According to the Center for Disease Control, the H1N1 virus is spread like other flu viruses, by being around someone sneezing or coughing with the flu or touching surfaces that contain the virus and then touching the mouth or nose.
Being in the close quarters of a team environment can't make it easy to prevent the spread of such diseases. The CDC claims that a person can be infectious one day before they show signs of illness to 5-7 days after, and that this contagion period can last longer in people with the "new H1N1 virus."
Hill has not been activated for any regular season games this year so it won't likely affect game days unless other players contract the disease.
