Swine flu possibility sends 5,000 students home through Monday

BY THERESA NOVAK

GAZETTE-TIMES CITY EDITOR

MONMOUTH - Western Oregon University in Monmouth is closed today through Monday because of concerns that "a probable case of the H1N1 virus, swine flu, has been found on campus," according to an emergency message sent to students and the media Thursday.

"It's not a confirmed case," university spokeswoman Lisa Catto said.

WOU president John P. Minahan said in an electronic letter addressed to the Western campus, "A Western Oregon University student exhibited flu-like symptoms earlier this week. The student tested positive for influenza A at the WOU Student Health Center. The student, who lives off campus, is receiving medical treatment."

The Polk County Health Department was notified and the specimen was sent to the State of Oregon Health Department Lab, which then notified the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The university's emergency messaging system was activated Thursday night for the first time, notifying students, faculty and employees via e-mail, text and automated telephone calls of the precautionary closure.

The results of those tests weren't expected to be back from the CDC until Monday, Catto said, which is why the school will be shut down at least until then.

H1N1 is a distant relative of the virulent Spanish influenza that killed 50 million people from 1918 to 1919 and infected a third of the world's population.

The Monmouth campus has 5,000 students, and Catto said many of them were on campus even close to 10 p.m. "I saw some buying masks," she said.

The university is in the middle of its 10-week term, which means that some students have midterms. Those likely will be rescheduled if the concern over possible infection proves to be unfounded. Otherwise, officials will announce further measures.