Milton High reopens after probable swine flu case

By KAYLA BUNGE
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

MILTON — Milton High School reopens today after the Rock County Health Department ordered it closed because a student has a probable case of swine flu, Superintendent Bernie Nikolay said.

Schools must be closed for one to two weeks after an infected student last attends school, said Rock County Health Officer Karen Cain. Officials believe the student last attended school Tuesday, April 28, she said.

The school has been disinfected as a precaution, Nikolay said.

"We went with the suggested cleaning that the health department told us to do—and that was the same cleaning we normally do," he said. "We routinely clean all the tabletops and light switches and doorknobs."

Those surfaces had been disinfected Friday, so the school was relatively clean when the health department ordered it closed, Nikolay said. But those surfaces were disinfected again because there were events held at the school over the weekend, he said.

The health department is revealing little about the infected student to protect her identity, and officials do not know when she will return to school.

"They assured me they wouldn't send the student back (to school) until she was no longer contagious," Nikolay said.

This is the second case of swine flu in Rock County. The health department on Friday announced another case involving a man who became sick after returning from a trip to Mexico.

For general information about the virus in Rock County, call (608) 757-5440.


Published at: http://www.GazetteXtra.com/news/2009/may/06/milton-high-reopens-after-probable-swine-flu-case/