"All of Doña Ana County’s staff send our thoughts and prayers to the family of the child who died earlier this week. I wish to reassure the public that Doña Ana County is monitoring closely as the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner works to determine how the child died. We recognize the community is concerned about swine flu, but I wish to be clear that we have zero evidence or test results that would lead us to speculate that this tragedy is part of the media-fed frenzy surrounding this unfolding world health story. With no confirmed cases in Doña Ana County, or in the entire State of New Mexico, it would be irresponsible for any party to speculate that this particular situation is connected to any flu virus. It’s critical that we stay calm and focused, and let the Department of Health be the source of all information related to health matters in the State of New Mexico. The death of a child is a tragedy in itself. To compound it through viral speculation or community panic would only make a sad situation even worse for our community."