Last updated at 14:54, Monday, 11 May 2009

A Carlisle gap year student – who is studying in Mexico – had to be evacuated from the rural village where she was living after the swine flu outbreak.

Kate Burgess

Kate Burgess, 19, who lives at Scaleby, is four months into a stint in Malinalco, south west Mexico, teaching English at a rural school.

The shockwaves of the swine flu outbreak hit the rural village where Kate is based, some 150 miles from Mexico City.

She said: “I found out about swine flu from the BBC website about two weeks ago. We’d heard something about it, but when I went to check we realised it was quite bad – I panicked.

“The town has gone really quiet. It is like a ghost town. People have been wearing the masks if they do go out or at least have them round their necks.

“We are not certain if anyone here has swine flu, but we have been told there are cases close to the town.”

Kate’s allocated school closed two weeks ago to minimise the spread of the virus.

“We have been told to keep clean, wash our hands and not to hug or kiss anyone. The cleanliness in the school is quite bad because it is rural,” said Kate, who is the daughter of Robin Burgess, the chief executive of CN Group Ltd, which publishes The Cumberland News and News & Star.

Along with five other young Brits also travelling with gap year company, Africa and Asia Venture (AV), Kate was told to stay in the house they share.

Later, they were evacuated along with a further 16 gappers staying in other Mexican towns to a lodge four hours into the hills.

“AV acted very quickly. We were there for about four nights then we were allowed back to the house. They did tell us we could get the drugs if we needed to and that someone would be with us all the time,” said Kate, 19, a former pupil at Queen Margaret’s School, near York.

“Everyone was quite up for moving because we were panicking. There was a possibility that we might have to go back to England at one point.

“But it’s a lot better now. Even though this has happened, I’ve really enjoyed my time here and we were most worried that we would have to go home early.”

On Friday Health Secretary Alan Johnson revealed that a significant step had been made towards producing a vaccine for swine flu.

He said Health Protection Agency scientists have worked out the full genetic code of the virus, which will help understand how it operates and to identify the parts that can be used to manufacture a vaccine.

First published at 14:37, Monday, 11 May 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk