To:  The U.S. Fencing Community

We wanted to alert the US Fencing community about a situation that happened today with one of our fencers who attempted to enter China for the Grand Prix competition.
 
One of our Women's Foil National Team Members was detained after showing an elevated temperature entering China.  Reports indicate that she was one of about 75 U.S. citizens who are being evaluated before being allowed to enter the country.  In the current world situation with the N1H1 virus, the Chinese were being protective of their citizens and didn’t want to take chances. The athlete was detained upon entering the country and she is currently being treated well by Chinese authorities, and had access to her cell phone and the internet.  The athlete was taken to the Nanjing Hospital for Infectious Disease to be monitored for further signs of infection.
 
We were able to contact her family this afternoon, and our support team at the USOC, including the U.S. Embassy, USOC medical staff, security, sport performance and media have been assisting us with notifying our Fencing family about the situation in China.  Thankfully, the athlete was in good hands, was treated with care, and was released early Thursday morning.  She is now with the rest of the team preparing for competition this weekend.
 
For those teams and athletes getting ready to depart for China, Dr. John Reasoner at the USOC strongly recommends "an evaluation by their primary care physician or an urgent care center if there is any suspicion of a viral or bacterial illness. Get the right advice and treatment before venturing onto a plane for an extended journey. Be sure to get copies of any medical tests obtained during your clinic visit to verify negative test results. This may be helpful for screeners at your destination."