News & Messages

Message from Chancellor Folt on Zika virus awareness event

Dear Campus Community,

I am writing today about an important health-related topic, the Zika virus, that is causing concern for many people here and for those traveling around the world.

To help our campus community better understand the Zika virus, we are holding an awareness event on Thursday, June 30, and you are invited to attend. From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., a campus information fair will take place just outside the Carolina Union. We expect to have great conversation, we hope we’ll have great weather and…for sure, we’ll have ice cream.

At noon, I will participate in a brief discussion that will feature public health panelists, including Dr. Randall Williams of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and Colleen Bridger, Orange County health director. In addition, Aravinda de Silva, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, will share a brief overview of the important research going on at Carolina about Zika. This research is one important way that Carolina contributes innovative solutions to today’s challenging world problems. This program will take place in Room 3408 of the Union.

We hope you’ll be able to attend. If you can’t, we encourage you to do a few simple things to help your community and yourself. You can help by:

Learning more about the Zika virus.
Identifying any area on campus that consistently has standing water and reporting it to our Environment, Health and Safety department.
Reviewing important travel information and registering on the travel site if you are visiting an area that may be affected by Zika.
Hope to see you on Thursday!

Sincerely,
Carol L. Folt
Chancellor