Flu outbreak causes high school to cancel events

Looks like the flu outbreak in Pullman is spreading out onto the Palouse. The St. John-Endicott High School football team had to cancel its game Friday against Kootenai High School in Harrison, Idaho, because too many players were either just getting over the flu or still sick with it, said St. John-Endicott Athletic Director Bruce Porubek. From the 17-person roster, six players were out of school Friday. Another three were back but had been out all week. “We had eight kids ready for an eight-man game,” Porubek said, adding that a road trip with such thin ranks wasn’t worth it. He added that the school, 35 miles northwest of Pullman, has been hit hard by flu in the past week. While he didn’t have firm numbers, he guessed between a quarter and a third of the 100 students were out of school on any given day. The school’s volleyball team also canceled a match today against Wellpinit. A decision on whether the cross-country team will travel to Asotin for a meet will be made today. Of the team’s 12 members, four were out sick Friday and two were beginning to feel symptoms, Porubek said. An outbreak of swine flu at the Washington State University campus has sickened more than 2,000 students in recent weeks.