Swine flu case suspected in nearby University Park

A suspected swine flu case at nearby University Park Elementary School, the state's fifteenth, has caused officials to close the school temporarily.

University Park Elementary, one of two schools closing in Prince George's County, is located in a primarily residential area that houses many students and university employees.

The elementary school, less than 2 miles from the campus, announced its plan this past weekend to close its doors for at least two weeks, becoming the fifth school to close in the state in the past week: Rockville High School in Montgomery County is closed until further notice; Montpelier Elementary School in Laurel will be closed for at least 14 days starting today; Folger McKinsey Elementary in Severna Park closed on May 1 for a minimum of five days; and Milford Mill Academy in Windsor Mill closed on May 1 with plans to reopen on May 7.

The official United States tally has reached 226 confirmed cases, up from 160 on Saturday. The worldwide count stood at 898 infected in 18 countries as of Sunday evening, up from 558 on Saturday. Mexico, with 506 confirmed cases and 19 deaths, is still the only other country reporting fatalities.

National health officials are insisting citizens should not be concerned, adding that only a handful of cases have required any hospitalization.

The World Health Organization released a statement Sunday reasserting its stance that travel and properly-cooked pork are both safe.

Despite the influenza coming within a stone's throw of College Park, students are still not concerned.

"I don't see it as that bad," graduate student Johnny Hsu said. "I was back in Asia when SARS hit. It seems a little overblown to me."

Freshman animal and avian sciences major Kate Gates said she's stopped listening to media reports of the near-pandemic.

"I've heard about it, but it doesn't seem like much of a threat," she said. "I'm not really worried, but I usually hear things two weeks too late."

University officials could not be reached for comment on Sunday, but Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement said earlier in the week that the university's incident response team - a group of 12 administrators who are called into session during campus-wide emergencies like natural disasters or a shooting - met several times in the past week to discuss and review procedures to react to an outbreak on the campus. Clement said that this university would remain open even if cases of swine flu came to the campus.

abdilldbk@gmail.com