The second of Duke’s two sessions of the Talent Identification Program has been canceled, officials announced Wednesday. The early termination results from more than 25 of the 260 students exhibiting flu symptoms.
All cases are consistent with the seasonal flu and are mild to moderate, according to a Wednesday news release. This is the first time in the program’s almost three-decade history that it has been canceled prematurely. The second session was scheduled to end Aug. 1
Officials were not clear whether the affected students carried the new H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as swine flu. The first cases of swine flu at Duke surfaced on East Campus last month among students participating in TIP, the American Dance Festival and writing programs held on East.
“Although none of the students seems to be in any serious danger, we decided to err on the side of caution and cancel the program to reduce the accelerating risk of infection among the other participants,” Martha Putallaz, Duke TIP’s executive director, said in the statement Wednesday. “We made this decision in close consultation with Duke experts on infectious disease and student health, as well as with campus officials. The health and safety of our students is our highest priority.”
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The University’s International Travel Oversight Committee, a body comprising faculty and administrators to set travel policy, voted Friday to remove Mexico from the Restricted Regions list.
Though this decision clears the path for student travel, the call did not come in time to reverse the decision to move the Duke in Mexico study abroad program, according to a news release. The program has already begun in Durham. DukeEngage in Tucson, which features stints in Mexico for service work, will proceed as planned.
Officials announced April 29–at the height of news about the H1N1 virus–that they would relocate Duke in Mexico to Durham.
Students had until last week to decide whether or not they would participate despite the change of scene, and an intermediate-level program began May 15. Perhaps unsurprisingly, of the 19 students who had planned to go to Mexico, only five chose to pursue the project in the Bull City, according to the release. Two transferred to other study abroad programs.
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Duke has limited travel to Mexico due to the swine flu outbreak.
The University added Mexico to its Restricted Regions List Tuesday in response to Centers for Disease Control guidelines recommending that individuals avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.
Among the programs affected by the declaration are the Duke in Mexico summer program and the Mexico portion of the DukeEngage in Tucson program.
The Duke in Mexico program was canceled Wednesday, the Durham Herald-Sun reported (Registration required).
Students who were planning to study Spanish in Mexico will now learn language and culture from afar—the program has been moved to Duke’s campus in Durham, according to Duke’s Preparing for Pandemic Flu Web site.
The DukeEngage program in Tucson will still be held, but students will not travel to Mexico during the program, DukeEngage Director Eric Mlyn wrote in an e-mail to students signed up for DukeEngage programs and their parents.
“We will continue to monitor this situation closely and will be in touch if any significant changes in programs or schedules occur,” Mlyn wrote. “Please be assured that all decisions will be guided by the latest recommendations of public health officials and by our concern for the health and safety of our participants.”
Several other universities have canceled Mexico programs in response to swine flu as well, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. In the Triangle, North Carolina State University canceled its summer study abroad program in Mexico, News14 reported.
There are now 141 confirmed cases of swine flu, also known as H1N1, and one death from the virus in the United States, the CDC reported Friday morning. Worldwide, there are at least 331 cases, according to the World Health Organization’s Web site.
For more information about the University’s response to swine flu, visit the Preparing for Pandemic Flu Web site the University has set up.
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