By Kimberly Leonard and Jimmy Young NWEN guest bloggers and Collegian Reporters

May 1, 10:25 p.m. — A student is being treated at the University Student Health Center for flu-like symptoms and being tested for the H1N1 strain of influenza, also known as swine flu, according to an e-mail from Dr. Lynne Deane, medical director of the center.

Despite this development and the appearance of swine flu in Virginia, the University will continue to operate on a normal schedule, Deane said.

Deane urged students to report any cases of flu-like symptoms to the Student Health Center, which will be open Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Another Virginia college has already been effected by the H1N1 virus, said Dr. Karen Remley, state health commissioner, in a news release. There are two probable cases of infection at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., she said.

“Both students had mild illnesses, both are recovering well, and both were suspected early of possibly having influenza A (H1N1) and were appropriately treated,” said Remley. “Neither student had traveled outside the country, but both had visited other states recently. None of the states visited were known to have confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1).”

Remley said the announcement had come out of a desire to be overly cautious, considering that local transmission may have occurred because of the appearance of two students with the virus.