Cutcliffe discusses team's bout with H1N1

 DURHAM — Duke coach David Cutcliffe said on Friday morning nearly 50 percent of his team had suffered from symptoms believed to be related to the H1N1 virus since the start of training camp on Aug. 5. 

While some affected players had already returned to practice, Cutcliffe said there were other still battling the flu-like symptoms. Citing HIPAA laws, he would not name players who had been impacted, though he said typical bouts have lasted two to three days, with some players needing quarantine.

Cutcliffe said the staff has followed the university's lead in dealing with this problem and have taken the steps to help minimize the overall impact.

"We can't call ourselves out of the woods, but we've taken tons of measures and we're going to continue to take those measures that have been recommended to us by doctors, by Duke, by the center of disease control at Duke," he said. "We've used all of our resources. We've just told everybody to hug our trainer if they felt bad and everything would be okay." 

Duke football head trainer Hap Zarzour said all cases have been "mild" with symptoms ranging from a cough to chest congestion to high fevers. He said one player had been officially tested and diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. Other players, he said, are presumed to have it.

Zarzour said the team has taken precautions to limit the spread of the virus, including adding hand-sanitizer to player lockers and encouraging frequent hand-washing.

Cutcliffe said he has not had any influenza symptoms.

He said players would not talk about H1N1 virus or how the cases have impacted the team. 

"If they're out here they are healthy, so there's no reason for them to be talking about the flu," Cutcliffe said. "I have to draw our team's attention back to preparation for Richmond."