New Web Site Helps Track Flu's Impact on North American Universities

Mexico City — With the H1N1 flu epidemic wreaking havoc on exchange programs throughout the Americas, the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration started a new Web site today to track the virus’s impact on universities.

Since the epidemic broke out in Mexico, in late April, the organization, known as Conahec and based at the University of Arizona, has been flooded with calls and e-mail from university administrators, students, and parents. Many have asked whether to halt or delay international programs in Mexico and whether students already there should be sent home, said Francisco Marmolejo, Conahec’s executive director.

The new site, accessible through an icon on Conahec’s main Web page, includes flu-related statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the Mexican government, as well as the responses of universities throughout the region to the health crisis. —Marion Lloyd