New Delhi: The first human case of flu strain A(H1N2)v, similar to a virus currently circulating in pigs, was detected in the United Kingdom.
The UK Health Security Agency has formally notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the discovery.
Based on early information, the infection detected in the UK is a distinct clade or form – 1b.1.1 – which is different from recent human cases of H1N2 elsewhere in the world, The Guardian reported.
Fifty human cases of the train have been reported globally since 2005. The new case is the first to be detected in the UK and is unrelated genetically to the previous cases, the report added.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that the patient had experienced a mild illness and fully recovered. The infection was detected as part of routine national flu surveillance and the source of infection was not known.
“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,” UKHSA incident director Meera Chand said.
The person infected, who has not been identified, had a mild illness and has now recovered. They were not hospitalised and were not known to have worked with pigs, according to The Guardian. How they came to be infected remains under investigation.
