Updated: Friday, May 8, 4 p.m.

From the Associated Press: State health officials say five swine flu cases have been confirmed in Arkansas, and the sick include soldiers at the Camp Robinson army base in central Arkansas.

The Arkansas Department of Health says the five confirmed cases include four at Camp Robinson in Pulaski County and one in Walnut Ridge in northeast Arkansas. Friday's announcement was the first confirmation in Arkansas of the disease.

The department says that the virus has affected soldiers from other states who were training at Camp Robinson. Officials say the case in northeast Arkansas involved an elementary school student.

The five cases were confirmed by a laboratory at the Arkansas Department of Health.

"Once the first case was identified, steps were immediately taken to contain the spread of the illness we were dealing with," said Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford, adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 1,639 confirmed cases of the disease as of Friday.

"We felt certain we would eventually see some cases of the novel H1N1 virus here in Arkansas," said Paul Halverson, the Health Department's director. "As the result of these diagnoses, we will be monitoring the conditions of close contacts of the patients in an effort to slow the spread for as long as we can. The good news is that the cases we have been seeing in the United State for the most part have been relatively mild and treatable with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu and Relenza."

• 286 official case of the H1N1 flu in the US.
• 36 states have confirmed cases.
• “The CDC is going to start reporting all cases probable & confirmed, so the number of cases will appear to jump dramatically.”
• Arkansas still does not have confirmed cases of H1N1 flu. 
• Arkansas Department of Health lab has run 163 specimens and all have been negative. 
• 20 countries have officially reported 985 cases of H1N1. 
• Most cases have been treated at home.
• The Arkansas Department of Health is asking health providers to only screen patients who have a fever along with influenza symptoms. 
• Bottom line “stay home if you are sick.”

The list of states with the numbers of people who are confirmed cases is updated daily at 11:00 a.m. at www.cdc.gov/swineflu. 

On Campus:

* If there is a confirmed case on campus, students, faculty, staff and parents will be notified immediately through the college's H-Alert system. If you are not currently signed up for H-Alert, you might want to take this time to sign up for the alert system through our Web site.

*  Updated information about the swine flu will be regularly distributed to students through e-mail and on our Web site. Students, please take the time to check your e-mail in order to be informed of the latest information.

*  There are a number of college-related trips around the world scheduled for the coming months, and at this time those trips will continue as planned. The appropriate faculty and administrative leaders are monitoring these destinations and will make decisions on a case-by-case basis as information evolves.

* Please take the time to protect yourself from catching the flu. Washing your hands regularly and/or using hand sanitizer is the best way to keep from spreading germs.

*  If you experience flu-like symptoms – high fever (above 100), vomiting, sore throat, etc. – please seek medical treatment immediately. If symptoms occur after hours, please seek medical attention at the emergency room, or Primecare (located on Harkrider, across the street from Walgreens) has an after-hours clinic. Health officials, however, are encouraging the public not to go to emergency rooms unless individuals are experiencing these flu symptoms.

* If you are exposed to the flu, please take steps to ensure you don’t expose others. The prescription, Tamiflu, is useful in cases of exposure as well.