Apr 28, 2009 12:33 am US/Pacific
3rd NorCal Student Among 13 Calif. Swine Flu Cases
SACRAMENTO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP) ―
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St. Mel's School in Sacramento County.
CBS
Sacramento County officials say two more seventh-graders have tested positive for swine flu, increasing the number of confirmed cases in California to 13.
Three students in all at St. Mel School in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks have tested positive for the flu. Tests on a fourth student, who reported feeling ill after a vacation in Mexico, came back negative Monday night.
All of the students' symptoms are mild. The 275-student school will be closed until at least Thursday.
A boy among those who fell ill may have contracted the illness from a student who returned from a Cancun vacation a week ago, said Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.
The school was also undergoing disinfection, Eckery said.
Parents were notified via e-mail Sunday that the school would be closed until at least Thursday to ensure there are no new cases of respiratory illness.
The e-mail stated: "We are recommended to use abundance of caution and they have requested that we close the school at least until Thursday to stop the spread."
The ten other confirmed cases of swine flu in California included five in San Diego County and five in Imperial County.
Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the state Center for Infectious Disease, said only two of the cases required hospitalization and those people had other underlying health conditions.
Chavez added that the state was awaiting lab results on two more probable cases from the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Beverly Hills news conference Monday that the state of California activated its joint emergency operations system -- a combination of the public health department and the state emergency management agency.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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