U.S. finds new human infection with swine H3N2 flu

U.S. finds new human infection with swine H3N2 flu:

U.S. public health officials have found another case of human infection with a swine-origin H3N2 virus, this time in a child from West Virginia. And they also reported finding a human infection with a new swine influenza virus never before seen in humans, in a person in Wisconsin who had contact with pigs.

The Wisconsin case seems to be a one-off infection, with no signs of further spread. But the investigation into West Virginia case suggests the child was infected by another person, not a pig and that some amount of human-to-human spread of the virus took place in the unnamed community where the child lives, according to details released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The H3N2 case is the 12th — in five states — reported in the U.S. since this new virus was first spotted in July. And the CDC acknowledges there are probably more cases that haven’t been picked up by the country’s flu surveillance systems.

“We don’t think these are all” the cases, said Dr. Joe Bresee, head of the influenza epidemiology team in the CDC’s Influenza division.

To date no other country has reported seeing human infections with this virus, which has also been isolated from pigs in the U.S.

[edmonton.ctv.ca/23 dec 2011]