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April 29, 2009, 9:24 a.m. PST
Dear Members of the Pomona College Community,
I would like to share with you a message I have just sent to our current seniors. Pomona College is strongly recommending that all students, staff and faculty avoid non-essential travel to Mexico until the travel advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is lifted or more information is known about the swine flu situation. Please see below for more details.
Sincerely,
Dean Feldblum
April 29, 2009, 9:16 a.m. PST
Dear Seniors,
Your last semester is winding down, and I know many of you are planning to head off campus next week for the traditional senior week break. As you do, I want to make sure you are aware that due to the seriousness of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. State Department have issued travel advisories urging U.S. travelers to avoid all non-essential travel to Mexico.
For your own safety and for the welfare of the campus community to which you will be returning, Pomona College strongly recommends that students do not travel to Mexico at any time during this period prior to commencement. This includes any brief, cross-border trips that could be made while staying in San Diego. If you are currently planning to spend time in San Diego, we urge you reconsider until more information is known about the swine flu situation there. If you do go to San Diego, we strongly advise you to follow carefully all the CDC guidelines about keeping healthy. If you have already paid for a flight to some destination in Mexico, please note that a number of airlines are currently waiving any penalty for changing such reservations.
We do not make these recommendations lightly. The World Health Organization has raised the worldwide pandemic alert system to level 4, which is characterized by “confirmed person-to-person spread of a new influenza virus able to cause ‘community-level’ outbreaks.” Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a formal state of emergency to better coordinate the state’s response and obtain resources as needed. The California Department of Public Health is monitoring the situation. As of April 28, there were 5 confirmed cases in San Diego, 5 in Imperial County, and 1 in Sacramento according to the CDPH.
When you are thinking of your travel plans, please consider foremost your own health and safety and also the public health and safety of our community and all those with whom you live and work. Any students who do choose to travel to Mexico despite this strong recommendation should take every possible precaution, including making sure that their health insurance plan will cover them abroad and packing a travel health kit containing basic medical supplies. They should also expect delays in the airports due to the fact that the Mexican government is checking all exiting airline passengers for signs of swine flu. Upon their return, they should expect to monitor their health closely for seven days.
Take care,
Dean Feldblum
April 29, 2009, 8 a.m. PST
Two reported potential cases at a private elementary school in Claremont, Our Lady of Assumption, have been found NOT to be swine flu.
The most recent statistics available from the CDC show 91 laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., with one death in Texas. The following states have confirmed cases: Arizona (1), California (14), Indiana (1), Kansas (2), Massachusetts (2), Michigan (2), New York (51), Nevada (1), Ohio (1) and Texas (16).
Pomona will not continue to update these numbers as they are better found at the CDC Website and news sites.
April 27, 2009, at 5:15 p.m. PST
To Our Community:
Yesterday, the Center for Disease Control confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S. Eight cases have now been confirmed in California (Imperial County – 3, San Diego County – 4, Sacramento County - 1). There have been no deaths in the United States from this outbreak of swine flu.
Pomona College administrators and Student Health Services (SHS) of The Claremont Colleges are closely monitoring developments in the current outbreak of swine influenza and are taking steps to manage the situation. SHS is in contact with the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and is following their guidelines as well as those of the Center for Disease Control. The Claremont College Consortium has had a Medical Emergency Response Protocol in place since 2006, and will activate the consortium-wide Medical Emergency Response Task Force if needed to coordinate our responses across the colleges.
Because symptoms of the swine flu do not differ significantly from the “regular” human flu, SHS has increased their level of monitoring students exhibiting signs of influenza.
If you have the following symptoms, please seek care:
- Fever (100.5F and higher)
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Difficulty breathing
- Body aches
- Headache
- Chills
- Fatigue
STUDENTS: Should report to Student Health Services, or after hours, contact Campus Security (909-607-2000) and ask to speak with the on-call healthcare provider. If you will miss class, contact the Dean of Students Office (909-621-8017).
EMPLOYEES: If you have similar symptoms, please consult your health care provider for diagnosis and treatment.
In your everyday campus lives, please use common sense, caution, and consideration to contain the spread of any contagious illness.
What You Can Do to Stay Healthy
- Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water (15-20 seconds), especially after you cough or sneeze. The virus also lives on inanimate objects, so wash your hands frequently after touching door handles, railings, keyboards, water faucets or other public objects. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
- Think carefully about nonessential travel.
- Do not share cups or eating utensils.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
If you get sick, the CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Useful Links:
CDC - www.cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm
CDC Guide for Taking Care of a Sick Person at Home - www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance_homecare.htm
CDC – Swine Flu FAQ – www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm
California Dept of Public Health - www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/news/Pages/SwineFluLndingPg042409.aspx and
www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/SwineInfluenza.aspx
Pomona College will post updates as needed on this webpage.
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