Premier Jean Charest has called an emergency cabinet meeting for Monday night to discuss the swine flu outbreak in Mexico.

The province is well-prepared to handle any cases of infection, which are inevitable, Charest said.

Public health officials in Sherbrooke are following a suspected case of swine flu in a local resident who returned from a trip to Mexico with flu symptoms.

Two other suspected cases – one in Montreal and one in the Mauricie region – have turned out not to be swine flu.

A task force to monitor and react to any outbreaks in the province has been set up, and Quebecers will be informed "on what they should do to prevent falling ill," the premier said.

"A lot of the advice they'll get is really good, common sense," Charest said. "But given the fact that these are serious situations, we want to watch over it very carefully."

Swine flu is a concern, Charest said, but people with travel plans to Mexico shouldn't cancel or postpone them at this point.

"But we are going to give them advice on what they should do if they do [go to Mexico]," he added.

People should pay attention to simple personal hygiene such as frequent hand washing to lower the risk of infection.

Quebec's health care system is in heightened standby mode, but it's the province's public security ministry that will lead any reaction to an outbreak.

The province's emergency preparedness program in case of an outbreak is modeled on a plan formulated three years ago when bird flu was a possible threat.

Migrant workers travelling to Quebec from Mexico will be monitored, but there is no reason to stop anyone from working if they don't appear ill, Charest said.

Laval University imposes Mexico travel moratorium

Laval University is imposing a moratorium on travel to Mexico, California and Texas for students.

Paul Naud, the university's director of safety and emergency measures, said he's worried about how the outbreak will develop over the next few days and weeks, and decided to impose the moratorium as a preventative measure.

California and Texas are included in the moratorium because there are cases of swine flu there.

About 30 students from the university were supposed to travel to Mexico this spring.