Alabama to postpone sports also

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/news/story?id=4115194

Alabama officials have shut down all athletic events following the discovery of likely cases of swine flu in Huntsville.

"Right now, we are being advised by our Medical Advisory Committee to shut down all activities until further notice," said Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. "We hope to be able to resume activities by next Tuesday, but right now we must study the situation and take it one day at a time."

The move means the Alabama state track and field championships, scheduled for May 1-2, will be rescheduled. All other postseason activities scheduled through May 4 in sports including baseball, soccer, softball and golf are postponed until further notice.

"This is not something we want to do," Savarese said. "Right now, we want to be cautious."

On Tuesday, Texas officials postponed all public high school athletic and academic competitions on Wednesday until May 11 because of the swine flu outbreak.

School officials say 53,000 students are out of school due to concern over the virus, and dozens of schools were closed to be sanitized. With 16 confirmed cases of swine flu in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry announced a disaster declaration Wednesday for the entire state.

"This is a particularly contagious virus that is easily transmitted by contact," ESPN medical analyst Dr. Michael Kaplan said. "Any physical contact or inhalation/ingestion can infect another person. While most flu viruses are more virulent or dangerous for the very young and old debilitated individual, this strain seems most devastating to the young healthy adult."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.