A risk-assessment meeting has been scheduled for Monday with members of the Office of Study Abroad to determine if MSU will cancel its summer program in Mexico, in which 46 students are enrolled, Cody said.

Ingham County health officials said Tuesday that five cases of flu-like illnesses within the county could possibly be swine flu incidents. However, no reports of possible swine flu cases on campus were reported as of Wednesday evening, Cody said.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state officials addressed concerns Wednesday evening during a press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center, 4000 Collins Road, in Lansing. Granholm confirmed a Livingston County woman was diagnosed with the virus and said there is another probable case in Ottawa County, although no official diagnosis has been made.

“It’s important that citizens know at this point in Michigan there is no reason for panic,” Granholm said. “We are obviously concerned, but there is no reason to panic. All we are going to be right now is cautious, aware and certainly implementing our response activities.”

The virus is similar to seasonal flus that account for 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, said Greg Holzman, the chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Community Health.

The virus is spread from contact with flu carriers. Washing hands thoroughly, covering your mouth when you sneeze and avoiding those infected will help prevent it from spreading, Holzman said.

Granholm said the illness has not spread through properly cooked pork, and there have been no reports of animal infections in Michigan.

“This is not a food-safety issue,” she said. “Pork is safe to eat. There’s no evidence that people can contract this illness from eating cooked pork.”

As a precaution, the state has access to 1 million doses of antiviral medication to treat the flu, and will be receiving 250,000 additional doses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Janet Olszewski, director of Michigan Department of Community Health.

If needed, the state would be able to treat 1.25 million people with those doses, Olszewski said.

Granholm partially activated the State Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday to assist state and federal governments in their efforts to prevent the illness from spreading. The CDC still is determining the severity and infectiousness of the virus.