One confirmed case of H1N1 at West Canada Valley Central School

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Story Created: Sep 16, 2009 at 3:20 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 16, 2009 at 4:12 PM EST

NEWPORT, NY (WKTV) - The West Canada Valley Central School District has one confirmed case of the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as the swine flu.

On Tuesday, out of 43 kids out sick in the elementary school, 38 had flu-like symptoms.

Since it's too early for the traditional flu season, officials with the state health department told school officials to assume they are all swine flu cases, and the school is taking precautions to guard against further spread.

"We continue with the precautions that we put in place; everything from additional cleaning, additional opportunities for hand washing," said Ken Slentz, Superintendent at West Canada Valley Central School. "We have an isolation area set up in the elementary, so if we do have a number of kids come down with symptoms during the day, we can put them in an area where they're isolated from the staff and other students."

The superintendent says if the number of absent students gets up around 20 percent, that's when they consider closing down.

The school sent a letter updating parents home with students Wednesday.

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