School Cancels Classes After Swine Flu Scare

There are 11 confirmed cases of swine flu in California, according to Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the state's Center for Infectious Diseases.

Of those confirmed cases, five are in San Diego County, five are in Imperial County and one is in Sacramento, Chavez said.

There are also two probable cases, located in San Diego. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is testing samples from those patients, Chavez says.

The eighth case was a seventh grader in Sacramento County who has already recovered from mild symptoms of the illness, said Al Lundeen, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. The department did not make public the town where the boy lives or the name of the private school he attends.

Investigators were also looking at a dozen additional probable cases, Department of Public Health Director Mark Horton told a Beverly Hills news conference held jointly with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The outbreak is a call to action and communication and cooperation on every level," Schwarzenegger said. He said the state was prepared and that public health authorities were working in conjunction with state emergency management officials.

San Diego County and Imperial County border Mexico but officials at the news conference said those seven cases did not appear to be connected directly to Mexico. All the victims said they did not travel to Mexico and relatives in that country did not visit recently.

They are also trying to figure out why the California cases have been relatively mild, but the strain is killing people in Mexico. Concern was evident in San Diego at the heavily traveled San Ysidro border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico.

CONCACAF canceled an Under-17 soccer tournament that was scheduled to resume Wednesday in Tijuana.

Maria Whipple of San Diego wore a surgical mask as she returned to San Diego from doing business in Tijuana.

"People think this is a joke. It's not a joke. I'm worried about it," she said.

San Diego resident Joe Marillo, also crossing back from Mexico, said he thought it was proper to be concerned.

"I know they always overplay these things but it's sensible," he said. "It's always better to overemphasize rather than be sorry later."

Los International Airport spokeswoman Katherine Alvarado said the airport was posting signs with health tips to wash hands and other suggestions. Airport employees were making sure restrooms were being sanitized twice an hour, paying special attention to door knobs and handles.

Passengers arriving from Mexico said airport workers there were handing out face masks and health information. Passengers were not required to wear the face masks, they said.

School Cancels Classes

A Claremont school canceled classes in response to a student who fell ill after returning from a trip south of the border.

According to the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a student at Our Lady of the Assumption School in Claremont became sick over the weekend, four days after she and her mother returned from a trip to Mexico. The girl and her mother, who also fell ill, were both tested for swine flu, and the results were pending.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell told The Associated Press that schools were safe.

"We're taking precautionary steps, working closely with families, with parents," he said. "We want to make sure that students are encouraged to wash their hands with soap and water for a duration of at least 20 seconds as often as possible, at school, before school, in their home."

O'Connell said students who are sick should stay home, get medical attention and return to school when they feel better.

He said that currently there was no need to close schools in California because of the small number of cases compared to the state's nearly 6.3 million students.

"There's no reason whatsoever to even contemplate closing schools," he said. "Ultimately that's the decision of the Department of Health Services, local county health. We're working with them."