UK Detects Its First Human Case Of New Swine Flu Strain, Contacts Tracing Underway

The United Kingdom has detected its first human case of a new strain of Swine flu in a routine flu screening test at a GP surgery in North Yorkshire. The person, infected with a new form of the H1N2 virus, had respiratory symptoms, a mild illness and had fully recovered, reported BBC citing officials.

Now the authorities are trying to trace the contacts of the person and the source of the infection as the person was not known to have worked with pigs, the report added.

According to The Guardian, there have been fifty human cases of the swine flu since 2005 globally. The new strain is the first to be detected in the UK and is unrelated genetically to the previous cases, it added.

The infection is different from recent human cases of H1N2 elsewhere in the world and is a distinct clade or form – 1b.1.1, the reort further added.

It said that influenza A(H1N2)v is similar to flu viruses circulating in pigs in the UK. Meanwhile, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has formally notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the development.

The agency is also carrying out contact tracing to prevent further spread of the virus. As of now, there is no information about the transmissibility of the strain or if there could be other cases in the UK.

Meera Chand, an incident director at UKHSA, 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."

"We are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce any potential spread. In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to learn how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further associated cases," Chand was further quoted as saying by The Guardian.

There are three major subtypes of swine flu A viruses in pigs-- H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2. There was a pandemic in humans caused by H1N1 in 2009, commonly referred to as swine flu. 

 

Symptoms Of Swine Flu

Most of the symptoms of the swine flu bear a resemblance to any other flu. However, this is basically a respiratory virus and this one should avoid contact with others if one encounters any of these symptoms.

Continuous cough
High temperature, fever, or chills
Changes in senses of taste and/or smell
Shortness of breath
Unexplained fatigue
Muscle aches and pains not due to exercise
Lack of appetite
Headache longer lasting/more severe than usual
Sore throat
Stuffy or runny nose
Diarrhea

In a conversation with Fortune, Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that hundreds of swine flu cases occur in the US each year and they are normally linked to agricultural fairs.

"Most of these viruses do not have the capacity to spread between humans," Adalja said. "So it will be important to understand the transmission chain that led” to the human’s infection, including if that human had any exposure to pigs," he added.

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