Spain has alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) to a suspected case of human-to-human transmission of a mutated H1N1 swine flu virus, a spokesperson for the Catalonia regional health authority said Friday.
The case, detected in the city of Lérida on February 11, involves an individual with pre-existing chronic conditions who visited a hospital for a routine check-up in late January, according to reports from CNN Business Arabic and the Spanish newspaper El País. The patient exhibited no respiratory symptoms.
The Catalonia Health Department considers the potential risk to the population to be “very low,” according to a statement. Tests conducted on individuals who had direct contact with the infected person have so far shown no evidence of transmission, officials stated.
El País reported, citing sources within the Catalonia Health Department, that the patient had not been in contact with pigs or pig farms. This finding led experts to conclude the infection occurred through human-to-human transmission. The report further indicated concern among experts that the virus could trigger a wider outbreak if it were to combine with a human influenza virus, particularly if a pig were to become infected with both strains simultaneously.
The potential for human-to-human transmission is raising concerns, though authorities are currently assessing the situation as low risk. The WHO has yet to respond to a request for comment from Reuters regarding the reported case.