Mysterious flu alarms Manipay school

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 February 2006, 12:15 GMT]
Seventy three girl students at Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna were taken to Jaffna Teaching Hospital Thursday after falling ill with fever and headache, education officials in Jaffna said. Although initially food poistioning was suspected as the cause of the illness, Regional Directional Health Service, Dr A Ketheeswaran, said it was likely to be a viral infection, health officials said.

Manipay Hindu College was closed immediately and remained closed on Friday.

Efforts are being taken to prevent further spread of the illness, officials said.

Officials speculated that more than 150 students may have been affected by the illness, and that many students may have stayed at home without reporting the illness.