News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers who spent the past 3 years testing pigs for influenza A viruses at county fairs in Ohio found that infected animals commonly appear clinically normal, highlighting one of the challenges health officials faced in preventing the spread of variant influenza to humans at fairs this summer.

Minnesota health officials today reported the state's first cases of the novel H3N2 flu mainly linked to contact with pigs at agricultural fairs. And with cases of H3N2v climbing across the nation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently urged schools to be on the lookout for infections.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of recent human cases of swine-origin variant H3N2 influenza (H3N2v) in recent weeks climbed to 152 today as Illinois reported its first case and Indiana announced more infections.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of variant swine-origin H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza cases in the United States has reached 16 in the past 3 weeks and 29 in the past year, prompting health officials to watch the virus closely for any increase in its now-limited ability to spread from person to person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – New details about the three most recent human infections with a novel swine-origin influenza virus have emerged over the past few days, along with a preliminary report of similar viruses in a few pigs.