As the new H1N1 swine flu virus spreads across the globe, Duke is taking extra precautions to ward off the epidemic.
The International Travel Oversight Committee has added Mexico to its restricted regions list, forbidding undergraduates to travel to the country through Duke programs or funds and recommending that graduate students, faculty and staff refrain from unnecessary travel to Mexico.
Duke in Mexico relocated its summer program to campus, aiming to instead engage students in Durham community service. DukeEngage's program in Arizona will only send students on its scheduled week in Mexico if the country is removed from the list.
"As always, student safety is our topmost priority for all of our study abroad programs and ultimately, this decision was made to ensure that we were not putting student's health in jeopardy," Paul Paparella, assistant director of the Office of Study Abroad, wrote in an e-mail to Duke in Mexico participants.
Margaret Riley, associate dean and director of Study Abroad, was not available for comment Wednesday.
The United States currently has at least 950 more documented cases of swine flu than Mexico, according to the World Health Organization.
In a memo to the University and the health system from Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and chief executive officer of Duke University Health System, wrote, "the collective understanding is that this strain behaves more like a typical seasonal flu."
Still, the University created the Web site "Preparing for Pandemic Flu" to showcase its response to the outbreak and provided hand sanitizer at commencement in addition to restricting travel.
Gilbert Merkx, vice provost for international affairs and chair of ITOC, said the committee placed Mexico on the restricted regions list in response to recommendations from the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and International SOS, a risk analysis firm.
Now, WHO no longer cautions against travel to Mexico though the CDC suggests only essential travel. The committee will meet Friday to discuss Mexico's status.
Merkx said if the CDC and ISOS lift their restrictions, the committee will likely remove Mexico from the restricted regions list. He added that moving Duke in Mexico to Durham was based on public health information and campus discussions from April.
"I think at the time it was the right decision," Merkx said. "Obviously, in hindsight we know a lot more now and we wouldn't make that decision... we were being inundated by calls from parents and people and needed to make a decision, and [the outbreak] looked like it was going to be a lot more dangerous."
Students in the Duke in Mexico program had until May 8 to decide whether they wanted to attend classes in Durham. Six students will attend the intermediate-level program May 15, but the elementary-level program was cancelled due to lack of interest, said Jenna Gates, a sophomore attending the program.
Gates said she is disappointed not to go to Mexico, but is looking forward to living with her classmates and attending field trips into the local community.
"I wish they could have just waited, what was it, a week after they cancelled it that we find out its not that bad?" Gates said. "I definitely wish they hadn't canceled it. I would have preferred to go to Mexico or another Latin American country any day but... I think Duke did a good job because safety is obviously a first priority and they couldn't have known that in a week it would turn out to be not that bad."
Despite emerging information, Merkx said students should continue to take precautions, such as frequent hand washing, at home and abroad.
"I think Duke students are pretty smart," Merkx said. "I think that everyone is aware of this... and I think that whatever Duke sponsored programs people go on overseas... people generally are given a lot of information about how they should be careful.... It's not rocket science to take certain precautions."
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