Little Rock, ARKANSAS (BNO NEWS) – No swine flu cases have so far been reported in Arkansas but officials fear it’s just a matter of time before it happens, state health officials told BNO News on late Saturday.

“We don’t have any cases to report at the moment,” said Ed Barham, who is a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Health. “We expect there will be eventually, a lot of states are expecting the same thing.”

Barham said they also had no suspected cases of swine flu. “It’s too early for that, we’ve not had any tests come into our lab that have gone to CDC to be sub typed,” he said. The Arkansas Department of Health is meanwhile actively making contact with all hospitals and physicians in the state. “We’re trying to make certain that if they do see an influenza-like illness that they go ahead and run their own tests on that patient.”

“Are we concerned? Yes, I think everybody is concerned about it,” he said. Barham said it would be just a matter of time until cases of swine flu start showing up in the state.