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A Pennsylvania resident is the first human to contract swine flu this year after coming into contact with infected pigs, the CDC revealed.
The health agency said one patient contracted the influenza A H1N2 variant that normally circulates among pigs.
The infection, known as bird flu or swine flu, was detected in a person who lived near a pig farm in Pennsylvania and who had direct contact with the animals.
The CDC reported that the patient was hospitalized and fully recovered from his illness and there have been no reports of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Influenza A is endemic among pigs, but rarely infects humans. However, in 2009, a strain of influenza A caused a swine flu epidemic, infecting more than 59 million Americans and killing thousands.
People can get swine flu through direct contact with infected pigs, and the strains that infect humans are usually mixtures of avian, swine, and human flu viruses.
While this is the first reported in 2024, the US may see a handful of swine flu cases annually, with at least three infections in 2023, although it is rare.
Two of those patients had attended different agricultural fairs in Michigan and had direct exposure to pigs.
A third was a boy from Montana who had visited a fair.
There are several strains of swine flu, including H1N2 and H1N1 that caused the 2009 epidemic.
Infections are rarely transmitted from animals to people, but the 2009 outbreak resulted from the virus mutating to become capable of infecting humans and causing disease.
The H1N1 strain combined avian, swine and human influenza A viruses.
The outbreak disproportionately affected children and adolescents who were most susceptible to illnesses so severe that they required hospitalization.
A World Health Organization report found that that year the number of infections in the United States reached 59 million with 265,000 hospitalized and 12,000 dead.
People can get swine flu through direct contact with infected pigs, and the strains that infect them are usually mixtures of avian, swine, and human flu viruses.
The symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of other influenza viruses and include fever, aches, chills, cough, headache, nausea and fatigue. Cases are usually mild and go away on their own within a few weeks with little risk of death.