a case of swine flu detected in a human

A first case “isolated” of a swine flu virus has been detected in a human in the United Kingdom, the British Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) announced on Monday, November 27. This case was detected “as part of usual national surveillance” carried out by the health authorities, she said, adding that the person concerned “suffered a mild illness and made a full recovery”.

The source of this person’s infection “has not yet been determined and is still under investigation”adds the UKHSA. “We are working to quickly trace close contacts [de la personne infectée] and to reduce any potential contamination”assured Meera Chand, general director of incidents at UKHSA.

The H1N2 virus is a “of the major subtypes of swine influenza virus in pigs and occasionally infects humans, usually after direct or indirect exposure to pigs or contaminated environments”, explains the British agency. In total, around fifty cases of transmission of this virus to humans have already been detected worldwide since 2005, but never, until now, in the United Kingdom.