Penn State University sends students into lockdown after outbreak of potentially deadly infection on campus

Students at a top US college are being told to quarantine if they develop symptoms of chickenpox amid an outbreak of the disease on the main campus.

Three cases of the highly transmissible infection have been detected at Penn State University, prompting the alert.

All the cases were on the University Park campus, the main campus at the university which has about 42,000 students.

It isn’t clear whether the patients are staff or students, but university officials say they have found the ‘origin’ of the outbreak and are now informing close contacts. 

Officials are warning students who were in the Mifflin Hall between February 17 and 24 and the Thomas building on February 20 between 1 and 3pm that they may have been exposed to the virus.

Students are also being advised to check their vaccination status and to isolate immediately and contact university health services if they develop symptoms. University officials are also offering vaccinations to students.

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