Just in time for flu season, the CDC has received 12 reports of infections with a swine-origin influenza A (H3N2) virus since August, the agency announced today.

The cases come from five different states: two in Indiana, three in Iowa, two in Maine, three in Pennsylvania, and two in West Virginia. All of the infected persons save on were under 18 years of age, and half had zero contact with pigs. All 12 persons have since fully recovered.

Although very little is still known about how the virus is transmitted, evidence indicates that the new variant (which contains genes from avian, human, and swine flu strains) is minimally passed from human to human.

One of the Indiana cases, a man with direct contact with pigs, was hospitalized for four days with symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and body aches. Preliminary testing revealed very little, and samples were then sent to the CDC, which then confirmed that is was the new strain of swine flu.

The West Virginia cases: two children under the age of 5 that attended the same daycare. One was hospitalized for a different condition two days before developing symptoms. The other developed fever, cough, diarrhea, and rhinorrhea, but recovered fully without recieving any medical treatment. Neither of the children had traveled recently nor did they have any exposure to swine, direct or indirect. According to the CDC:

“This represents a scenario of limited human-to-human transmission occurring in a daycare setting. Therefore, clinicians also should consider the possibility of influenza A (H3N2)v infections in patients who have not had exposure to swine, particularly young children in those states where … cases have been reported.”

The new strains discovered thus far are treatable with Tamiflu and Relenza, but are unresponsive to amantadine and rimantadine.

In order to distinguish the virus from the seasonal H3N2, health officials have dubbed the new strain H3N2v.

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New Swine Flu Strain On The Rise? is a post from: The Inquisitr