According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) weekly FluView, one human infection with a novel influenza A virus was reported by the state of Ohio. The person was infected with an influenza A (H1N1) variant (H1N1v) virus and died from complications as a result of the infection.
The patient worked at a livestock facility that housed swine but no direct contact with swine was reported in the week prior to illness onset. No ongoing human-to-human transmission has been identified.
Prior to this case, one other H1N1v case was reported in 2015 in a Minnesota resident in January. That patient fully recovered from their illness.
When an influenza virus that normally circulates in swine is detected in a person, it is called a variant influenza virus and is labeled with a ‘v’.
Influenza viruses such as H1N1(v) and other related variants are not unusual in swine and can be directly transmitted from swine to people and from people to swine.
When humans are in close proximity to live swine, such as in barns and livestock exhibits at fairs, movement of these viruses can occur back and forth between humans and animals.
The illnesses resulting from H1N1(v) infection are similar to seasonal influenza. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, decreased energy, coughing, runny nose, and sore throat. Contact your health care provider if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms and inform the doctor if you have had contact with swine.
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