An outbreak of swine flu continues to spread this week, with what began earlier this month as a disease epidemic in Mexico now reaching as close as Fair Oaks.

Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez sent a campus-wide email Tuesday to tell the community that the school is following the swine flu outbreak.

“Our campus is working with health officials and the Chancellor’s Office to monitor and address the swine flu situation,” Gonzalez said.

John Kepley, special assistant to Gonzalez, said that the campus was working to update its pandemic response plan. The plan was originally crafted in response to avian flu and is being revised to reflect the potential for a swine flu outbreak.

The pandemic plan was first drafted after an executive order from the Chancellor’s Office in October 2007 which required campuses to draft emergency preparedness plans so that they would be able to continue to operate during various disasters, including pandemic flu.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said Monday that no CSU students or employees have reported symptoms of swine flu. The system’s 22 students who are studying abroad in Queretaro, Mexico have had their university shut down but are not in any danger, Reed said. One of the students is from Sac State, Kepley said. Officials, citing privacy regulations, were unable to release additional information about the student.

Reed issued a memo Monday outlining the CSU system’s response to the outbreak.

“While there is cause for concern, I do not want people to be alarmed,” Reed wrote.

The disease has reached the Sacramento area, with three seventh graders testing positive at St. Mel’s School in Fair Oaks. The school will be closed all week as a precaution.

Dr. Diane Sipkin, medical director of the health center, said that no Sacramento State students have tested positive for the disease.

Laurie Bisset Grady, associate director of the health center, said that she did not think precautionary measures like wearing masks were necessary at this point, unless the person was very ill or had a specific reason for wearing them.

Kepley said that it was impossible to speculate as to what the campus would do if a Sac State student tested positive. The school’s pandemic response plan charged the President’s Office with determining when to take measures like closing campus or canceling classes in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. This would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis, Kepley said.

President Obama said today that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu should “strongly consider temporarily closing.”

Map of Swine Flu Cases

View 2009 Swine Flu (H1N1) Outbreak Map in a larger map

The State Hornet will update as information is available.

Sam Pearson can be reached at [email protected].