Published Date: 2007-01-08 00:00:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza, swine, human - USA (IA): November 2006
Archive Number: 20070108.0077

INFLUENZA, SWINE, HUMAN - USA (IOWA): NOVEMBER 2006
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Date: Mon 8 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Sioux City Journal Online [edited]
<http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/01/07/news/iowa/b56fa050f700ef888625725c0014fe12.txt>


Iowan gets swine flu
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An eastern Iowan has tested positive for a swine flu, a disease which
rarely jumps from pigs to humans, but state health officials said
there is no cause for alarm. Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the state's
epidemiologist, said the case was detected when the patient gave a
routine throat swab after coming down with flu symptoms. The sample
was sent for lab tests, which confirmed the swine flu diagnosis. The
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the results
of the test taken in November 2006. Quinlisk said the patient was not
hospitalized and has since recovered. She said there was no evidence
the virus has spread person to person.

It was unknown how the Iowan contracted the virus. "It's hard to
catch," Quinlisk said. "(Humans) are pretty resistant to it."
Quinlisk said she could not recall the last time an Iowan had tested
positive for swine flu. She's been the state's leading communicable
disease monitor for 12 years.

The CDC has blood tests pending on people in contact with the Iowan
to determine exposure. People exposed to the virus may not develop
symptoms. As with the flu in humans, pigs with swine flu develop
runny noses and fevers. Pigs can transmit viruses to their human
handlers, as they did in Cedar Rapids during the 1918 Spanish flu
epidemic. Historians note the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show brought
together sick and healthy pigs. When the show ended, newly infected
pigs were returned to farms throughout the Midwest, contributing to
the spread of the deadly virus.

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ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The absence of secondary cases since November 2006 indicates that
the risk of transmission of this swine influenza virus from pigs to
humans is remote, and clearly the virus is not adapted to
person-to-person transmission in the human population.

Influenza A virus infection (H1N1 or H3N2) is common in swine in the
USA (although less frequent elsewhere), and infection of abattoir
workers causing mild respiratory disease is not uncommon. Constant
surveillance of such events is necessary, however, for early
detection of a virus with pandemic potential. In 1976, an outbreak of
swine influenza virus among military recruits at Fort Dix in the USA
proved to be self-limiting and initiated an expensive and ultimately
unnecessary human immunization program. - Mod.CP]
.............................mpp/cp/msp/mpp

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