Washington - About 300 schools in 11 states were closed across the United States on Thursday amid fears of the spread of swine flu, the education department said.
Most of the shuttered schools were in New York and Texas, which so far have the highest number of the 111 confirmed US cases. New York has 50 cases, and Texas 26. One visiting Mexican toddler has also died in Texas.
About 169 000 children found themselves with a day off, out the nation's roughly 55 million pupils, according to the department's figures.
Some of the schools are due to reopen at the end of the week after tests have been carried out suspected swine flu cases, spokesperson Massie Ritsch said.
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"Do what is appropriate for the health of your communities, your schools and your students," the US department of education said in a press release.
There were also a few suspected cases of the flu at universities, particularly in California, but none had yet been shut.
US President Barack Obama said: "It's also the recommendation of ur public health officials that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of H1N1 should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible.
"If the situation becomes more serious and we have to take more extensive steps, then parents should also think about contingencies if schools in their areas do temporarily shut down, figuring out and planning what their child care situation would be." - Sapa-AFP
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