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Blue Lake symphony group grounded by CDC from going overseas, has been tested for swine flu
by Local reports | The Muskegon Chronicle
Tuesday June 23, 2009, 8:13 AM
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp's International Youth Symphony Orchestra, scheduled to depart Detroit Metropolitan Airport for a three-week goodwill tour of Europe on Monday evening, was grounded by the Center for Disease Control because several students had tested postive for the Influenza A flu virus while on tour in Ohio last weekend.
The students were scheduled to fly out on Air France for European concerts in which the students had been preparing for nearly a year, said Bill McFarlin of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Each of the students has been tested for the H1N1 flu, also called the swine flu. While none of the students had been diagnosed with that strain of flu, which has caused numerous deaths in the past several weeks throughout the world, the CDC elected to keep the group from travelling overseas in case one of the students is infected. Results of those flu tests are pending.
The group has been banned from traveling for seven days.
"The camp has always placed the highest priority on the health and welfare of our students and has met or exceeded all health standards and regulations during our 43 years of operation," said Heidi Stansell, Blue Lake Vice President for Operations and Camp Director. "The circumstances and the decision to ground the orchestra is beyond our control.
"Cancelling the tour, which has been in preparation for more than a year, is devastating to our students, the European communities scheduled to host them, and the Blue Lake International Exchange Program. This is truly a cultural tragedy."
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, a summer school of the arts located in Twin Lake, offers fine arts education for all ages. The summer camp annually serves gifted elementary, junior high, and high school students with diverse programs in music, art, dance, and drama, while offering public performances during its Summer Arts Festival.
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Europe trip canceled after Mich. students get flu
Associated Press
8:54 AM CDT, June 23, 2009
TWIN LAKE, Mich. - A Michigan arts camp has canceled a three-week orchestra tour of Europe after several students came down with the flu.
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp says its International Youth Symphony Orchestra was scheduled to depart Monday evening from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. But several students were diagnosed with type-A influenza while touring Ohio over the weekend.
Tests have not confirmed the students have the swine flu, but federal and state officials recommended the group not travel. The camp says Air France indicated the students wouldn't be allowed on the flight because they likely would be quarantined upon arrival in Paris.
Heidi Stansell is director of the camp in Twin Lake, about 40 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.
She says the tour's cancellation is "a cultural tragedy."