A swine flu outbreak at Bowdoin College in Brunswick has sickened 29 students. At an Augusta news conference today, Maine Center for Disease Control Director Dr. Dora Mills says students at some other Maine schools, including colleges, are being tested for the H1N1 virus.
Mills says Bowdoin "handled this very well" by preparing over the summer for a possible outbreak of the disease. She says Bowdoin had a system in place to detect the disease early on and to isolate students, as well as to get appropriate treatment to students who were exposed.
Mills says she expects the number of H1N1 to escalate as the school year gets underway. She says about half of Maine schools have agreed to participate in vaccination programs this fall. She says some schools have issues that need to be resolved, such as finding approved places to store the vaccines, but she says she expects many more schools to sign on to the program in the coming weeks.