Seventh-day Adventist Executive Committee leaders for the Inter-American region, headquartered in Miami, Florida (USA), have cancelled mid-year business meetings scheduled for this month due to the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, or swine flu.

Four countries in the Inter-America region have confirmed cases of the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Mexico's four major church regions cancelled services last week and through the weekend. Adventist schools and universities in Mexico remain closed following the federal government's mandate to shut down large gatherings and all public and private schools through May 6.

Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, said the decision to cancel was "due to the uncertainty of the present health challenge the world faces." Leito said the administrators studied the issues and implications before reaching the decision.

Agenda items for the meetings included church growth reports, policy discussions and reviews of current initiatives.

Church officials also postponed a regional teachers' congress scheduled later this month. The congress has been tentatively re-scheduled for September 6 to 10.

Leito said several video conferences are scheduled with local church administrators during the next few weeks. End-of-the-year Executive Committee meetings remain scheduled for late October.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America has more than 3.2 million members throughout the 33 countries and dozens of islands from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela and the French-Antilles Guiana territory. ...[Editor: Megan Brauner for ANN/APD]