According to the latest news yesterday, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported a case of swine flu infection in a worker on a farm in Lleida, but no further related cases have been found in the region vanguard. Spanish authorities reported the outbreak on January 29 and published it in the ECDC weekly report. To date, only 73 cases of human infection with A(H1N1) have been detected worldwide.
The patient had no history of underlying diseases and developed symptoms (cough with mucopurulent sputum, fever, malaise, and myalgia) on November 25. Chest X-ray revealed no evidence of pneumonia, and the patient was diagnosed with bronchitis on outpatient visit. Subsequent laboratory analysis confirmed that it was H1N1 swine influenza. ECDC reports that the patient has fully recovered and no new cases have been identified among close contacts to date. They reported details from the health department about cases they believed were closed because the patients were no longer being monitored. On January 10, Catalonia’s health authorities reported a case of swine flu in a 33-year-old man working on a farm in Lleida.
The date of onset of symptoms was November 25th. Nasal and oropharyngeal secretion samples were collected on December 12 and were positive for influenza A, but could not be classified. It was sent to the regional reference laboratory and identified as swine fever virus. No secondary cases were identified among close household contacts or among the nine farm workers. The case is progressing smoothly. The sample was sent to the National Institute of Microbiology for confirmation and the virus was isolated and shared with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center. As María Montoya, researcher at the Viral Immunology Group of the Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research (CIB-CSIC) in the SMC Collection, explains, “As long as we remain alert to the possible emergence of new ‘recombinations’, this should not Become a social alert.” virus or a new virus with mutations. That’s why it’s so important to stay vigilant.