PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Health officials have isolated 10 members of San Juan Jabloteh suspected of contracting the H1N1 (swine flu) virus while on club duty in the CONCACAF Champions League last month.
The 10 players – including junior international Jerrel Britto – will be isolated for three days, following examination by a local doctor.
It’s the second time that Britto will be isolated, after he was part of the national Under-17 team that contested the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship in Mexico in June at the height of the H1N1 outbreak in that country.
Jabloteh chief executive officer Azaad Mohammed-Khan indicated that most of the players were showing signs of illness, since the team returned from Mexico on September 23.
“When we returned from Mexico a number of players were not feeling well, but we still played the FCB Cup semi-final two days later [on September 25], and then the CONCACAF Champions League match with DC United in Washington on September 30,” he said. “In Washington, we barely got through the match as all the guys were ill, and it showed in our performance as we lost 5-1.”
Jabloteh coach Earl Jean, a former St. Lucia international, noted that one player was showing signs of illness even before the team went to Mexico.
“We are not too sure where the guys picked it up because we have been travelling through Central America [Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Panama] a lot in recent times due to the CONCACAF Champions League competition,” he said
Jabloteh was expected to begin defence of their Digicel Pro League Big Six title on Saturday at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
The match however, had to be postponed, after Jabloteh officials informed the Trinidad & Tobago Pro League office that it would not be able to field a team as most of its players were suffering from various flu-like symptoms.
Jabloteh was also due to play Joe Public on Tuesday in the Big Six, but the match has also been postponed, and will now be played on Tuesday, October 20.
W Connection, another T&T Pro League club, has also been involved in the CONCACAF competition, but none of their players are showing any effects of the virus.
The swine flu scare has also forced the postponement of all Big Six matches until October 17.