ORLANDO, Fla. -- Is the swine flu in Central Florida? An email obtained Tuesday by Eyewitness News from Florida Hospital's chief medical officer said it is (see the email), but then the hospital and the Orange County Health Department quickly backed down as soon as Eyewitness News started asking questions.

---

DOCTOR'S EMAIL: Read Email About Case
PRESS CONFERENCES: Fla. Hospital | Surgeon General
TEAM COVERAGE: Swine Flu Case In Orlando

---

The doctor's email said the case is from a tourist from Mexico, the country at the center of the swine flu outbreak. The tourist came to Orlando with relatives to vacation at Disney World.

The newest information from the health department says several samples from Central Florida cases have been sent to the CDC. However, the Florida Department of Health told Eyewitness News early Tuesday evening no samples from anywhere in Florida have been sent to the CDC.

So far, there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in Central Florida.

Florida Hospital's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Loran Hauck, sent the email and it didn't take long for word to get around. His email said there was a diagnosed case of swine flu.

Two hours after Eyewitness News broke the story on WFTV.com, Dr. Scott Brady, the medical director for Florida Hospital Centra Care, where the case in question and two other possible cases came in, called a press conference (watch press conference).

"Let me be very clear that that has not been confirmed at this point in time," Brady said Tuesday.

Dr. Brady tried to downplay Dr. Loran Hauck's email, which said "a case was diagnosed here in Orlando today on a tourist from Mexico who came to Disney attractions two days ago to visit, as referring merely to the flu and not the swine flu. But WFTV reporter Kathi Belich pressed him, because the question Dr. Hauck was answering was specifically about swine flu.

"This was a direct answer to a question about swine flu. Did your chief medical officer speak out of turn?" Belich asked Brady.

"I have not spoken to the CMO about that," Brady said.

"You haven't?" Belich asked.

"It's not confirmed," Brady said.

"You have not spoken to him about why he generated this email?" Belich asked.

"I don't know why he generated the email," Brady said.

Eyewitness News tried to speak to Dr. Hauck about why he sent the email, but the hospital denied it. Instead, Florida Hospital released a statement from him late Tuesday afternoon.

“I regret that an unofficial e-mail I sent to a friend has been taken out of context,” Hauck wrote in the press release. ”My intent was to comment on current influenza cases in Central Florida, but I regret my strong choice of words. I apologize for the concern this has caused.”

While Hauck's statement says he was really talking about "current influenza cases" and not swine flu, he only referred to one specific diagnosed case when Florida Hospital says it has had numerous cases of diagnosed influenza.

Dr. Brady told Eyewitness News a Mexican tourist who had been to Disney came into one of the clinics Sunday night with the flu. On Monday, they swabbed the tourist and said they sent the culture to the CDC. Florida Hospital says it sent two more cultures from Orlando to the CDC on Tuesday, but the the Florida Department of Health denies having sent any samples to the CDC.

Orange County Health Officer Dr. Kevin Sherin won't say exactly how many possible cases there are in the county. He's been asked by the health department not to do that, but says if there is a confirmed case he will get that information out right away.

Shortly after the hospital's press conference, the Florida's Health Department held their own (watch press conference).

"At this time we have no confirmed cases here in Florida," Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros said during theTuesday afternoon press conference.

Viamonte Ros said several samples are being sent to state labs where, if they get a positive test, they are then forwarded to the CDC for confirmation.

"Several tests are being conducted at this time, but there are no confirmed cases at this time" Viamonte Ros said.

TOURIST INDUSTRY COULD BE HURT BY SWINE FLU FEARS

A report of swine flu in Central Florida could seriously hurt our biggest industry. The European Union is already warning people not to vacation here.

Disney will only say it's following CDC guidelines, but Eyewitness News talked to one guy who's telling his friends and family who work on Disney property to wear a mask and not take any chances.

The threat of swine flu has hit Central Florida's tourist district. One family from the United Kingdom heard of a possible case in Orlando and the news has made them a bit uneasy.

"Scary, scary," tourist Paul Brennan told Eyewitness News. "I think it's killed 160 people so far. Obviously, a bit of a worry."

Disney has not confirmed any cases on property and will only say it is following all health department guidelines.

Universal told Eyewitness News the same thing, but it sparked impromptu discussions at Tuesday's Orange County commission meeting.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau admits it is concerned but says it has no plans to do anything different right now. There is a crisis plan already in place and daily communication is a priority.

"Depending on where this goes could have an impact. We try to minimize the impact, let people know the true story," said Danielle Courtney, Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The CVB has 1,300 local members and said it will disseminate information as needed to those members. Part of that communication is to local hotels feeding them tips on sterilization. The hotel owners Eyewitness News talked to said thorough sanitizing is already part of their daily routine and that's how some tourist see it, too.

"Life's too short at end of day to worry about things like this," tourist Edward Howard said.

Eyewitness News spoke on Tuesday afternoon with Harris Rosen, who owns several hotels in the tourist area. He said he has had no cancellation due to the swine flu scare or a decline in business. Eyewitness News checked with OIA and there were two flights from Mexico arriving Tuesday.