UK detects first human case of rare Swine Flu strain H1N2: UKHSA

LONDON: UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Monday confirmed the first human case of rare influenza A (H1N2) virus — similar to flu viruses currently circulating in pigs in the country.

“This is the first detection of this strain of flu in a human in the UK,” the UKHSA said in a statement, noting that it is working closely to determine the characteristics of the pathogen and assess the risk to human health. There have been a total of 50 human cases of influenza A(H1N2)v reported globally since 2005; none of them related genetically to this strain. Influenza A(H1N2)v has not previously been detected in humans in the UK. Human infections with swine influenza viruses occur sporadically. Based on early information, the infection detected in the UK is a distinct clade (1b.1.1) — different from recent human cases of influenza A(H1N2) elsewhere in the world but is similar to viruses in UK swine, the UKHSA said. H1N2 was detected in the patient, who experienced respiratory symptoms, as part of routine national flu surveillance undertaken by UKHSA and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

While the patient experienced a mild illness and has fully recovered, the source of the infection has not yet been ascertained and remains under investigation, the agency said.

“It is thanks to routine flu surveillance and genome sequencing that we have been able to detect this virus. This is the first time we have detected this virus in humans in the UK, though it is very similar to viruses that have been detected in pigs,” said Meera Chand, Incident Director at UKHSA, in a statement. (IANS)

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