NYC School Closes After Suspected Outbreak of Swine Flu
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The Robin Sue Ward School For Exceptional Children, or PS 177 in Queens of New York, on Tuesday became the second school in the city to close after officials feared suspected swine flu outbreak.
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P.S. 177, also known as the Robin Sue Ward School for Exceptional Children is seen on April 28, 2009 in the Queens borough of New York City. The school is in the neighborhood of Fresh Meadows, not far from St. Francis Prep where the first cases of swine flu were reported after a class trip to Mexico. The school has been closed as a precautionary measure. Reports indicate that most people confirmed with the new swine flu were infected in Mexico, where the number of deaths blamed on the virus has surpassed 150, and confirmed cases in the United States has passed 60 people. (Chris Hondros/GettyNorthAmerica/CFP) |
The school notified parents this afternoon that the school was closed until further notice.
PS 177, which has about 400 students, is less than half a mile from St. Francis Preparatory School where 28 students tested positive for the swine flu-a potentially deadly form of the flu that has already killed upwards of 100 people in Mexico.
About 12 students at PS 177 as well as six more at Ascension School, a parochial school in Manhattan, are suspected of having contracted the swine flu virus.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that five new probable swine flu cases have emerged in the city.
The city began collecting medical samples at PS 177 after reports of flu like symptoms and "more than usual absenteeism," a spokesman for the mayor's office said Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)