LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State University said its study abroad office will not be sending students to China amid a new virus that has sickened thousands and killed more than 100.
University spokeswoman Minerva Baumann told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the school will follow the U.S. State Department’s travel warning of “reconsider travel” to China until further notice.
Baumann said New Mexico State doesn’t have any outbound students registered through Study Abroad who were planning to study in China this semester.
The move comes after Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, announced that students studying abroad with the school’s Shanghai international program will return home this week amid growing concerns about Wuhan coronavirus.
Wuhan is the epicenter of a new virus.
The virus has sickened more than 4,500 people in China, and more than 100 people have died. Symptoms include fever, cough and, in more severe cases, shortness of breath or pneumonia.
University of New Mexico spokesman Dan Jiron said school officials are monitoring events in China but not formal decision has been made about travel restrictions.
