A case of swine flu in humans has been confirmed in Lleida, the first outside of a farm.
This is the second infection reported in Catalonia in three years and the fourth in Spain since 2009.
BarcelonaThe Catalan Health Department confirmed a human case of swine flu A (H1N1) in Lleida, which was identified on February 11. The patient is a person with chronic illnesses who had visited the hospital on January 30 for a routine check-up and did not present with flu-like respiratory symptoms. However, neither he nor his immediate circle had any contact with pigs or farms, which is the main risk factor for transmission of the virus, so health authorities are investigating the source of the infection. In fact, this is the first case of swine flu detected outside of a farm in Catalonia in the last seventeen years. In 2023, aHowever, in a worker in the sector.
According to the Department of Health, the case was officially reported to the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) on February 13, which in turn forwarded it to the World Health Organization (WHO) reference center. This is all in compliance with the International Health Regulations, which require health authorities to report any case of this flu in humans. In this regard, the Department of Health has announced in a statement the opening of a "full investigation" and the activation of epidemiological surveillance, microbiology, and institutional communication protocols.
Swine flu viruses circulate widely among livestock, but transmission to humans occurs "sporadically." The Department of Health emphasizes that the risk of infection with this virus is "very low" for the general population and "low" for people who work with livestock. However, when this occurs, it mostly causes mild respiratory infections, although more serious cases have occasionally been identified.
Risk factors
Direct human exposure to pigs is the most common risk factor for infection, especially when there is direct, unprotected contact with infected animals. In this case, neither the person being treated nor their direct contacts had prior exposure to pigs or pig farms, nor to other potential animal carriers. "All the people studied were asymptomatic, and the tests came back negative. Furthermore, possible errors or contamination in the sample collection have been ruled out," the Catalan Health Department (Salut) stated.
The case is now under active epidemiological surveillance at the national level. This is the fourth reported human infection of this virus in Spain since 2009. The last case was also identified in Catalonia, in December 2023, on a farm in Lleida. According to the WHO, swine flu is not transmitted through food, so the risk of contracting the virus from consuming pork products is "negligible," even during the acute phase of the infection.
