SWINE FLU UPDATE: No suspicion of virus thus far in Iberville Parish; all schools open

No suspected cases of the swine flu have been reported yet in Iberville Parish, and classes at local schools will operate on their regular schedules, as of 6:45 a.m. Friday.

Brusly Elementary School, in neighboring West Baton Rouge Parish, announced Thursday it would close Friday because of a student who had been out of school for a week. But the illness has not been linked to the swine flu.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta is currently studying samples from four parishes for confirmation of the disease, also known as H1N1, Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a briefing yesterday.

The samples came a total of five school children – two from Lafayette Parish, and one each from St. Martin, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes, the governor said.

The governor said in the briefing that some of the suspected cases came from people who recently visited Mexico or came in contact with someone who visited Mexico.