PORT JERVIS – Students in the Port Jervis School District who returned to school Tuesday after the Easter break took home to their parents a letter about meningitis and what can be done to minimize the risk of contracting it.

The effort was done by the Orange County Health Department following the discovery of a student who contracted a strain of the disease last week and was treated at Westchester Medical Center.

Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Jean Hudson said the outreach began last week.

“We took a lot of calls initially from contacts the principal made for us and from friends of the child, and we able to either to advise them to have prophylaxes or to tell them the category of risk,” she said.

The child was first brought to the local Port Jervis hospital when he became ill, but was later transferred.