HIBAPRESS – Agencies
A spokesperson for the health authorities in the Spanish region of Catalonia told Reuters today, Friday, that the country had informed the World Health Organization of its suspicion of a transmission of the swine flu virus variant A(H1N1)v between humans.
In a subsequent statement, the Catalan Ministry of Health said that it considers the assessment of the potential risks to the population from this to be “very low”. It added that the infected person did not show respiratory symptoms similar to those of influenza, and that tests carried out on those who were in direct contact with him showed that the virus had not been transmitted to them. A previous report by the newspaper El País, quoting sources in the Catalan Ministry of Health, stated that the patient, who has since recovered, had not been in contact with pigs or pig farms, prompting experts to conclude that the infection was transmitted from one human to another. The newspaper report added that this rang alarm bells due to the possibility of the spread of a swine flu epidemic if it combined with the human influenza virus, which could happen if a pig was infected with both viruses at the same time.
