The Centers for Disease Control has announced that a seven-year-old girl has been diagnosed with the H1N2v variant of the novel swine influenza virus. This is Taiwan's second case and only the 45th case globally. The girl's family runs a hog farm, and so far there has been no human to human transmission.
A seven-year-old girl residing in central Taiwan where her family runs a hog farm and with no recent travel history developed symptoms including a fever, cough, and runny nose on Sept. 24. Her family sought medical treatment two days later for the fever. A COVID-19 rapid test came back negative, but an influenza A rapid test came back positive. The Centers for Disease Control conducted additional testing and determined she was infected with the H1N2v variant of the novel swine influenza virus. This is Taiwan's second case of H1N2v infection.
Chuang Jen-hsiang, Dep. Director-General, Centers for Disease Control: “Swine infected with H1N2v have light symptoms. We've seen from these two cases that both involved children without severe symptoms.”
The CDC said the H1N2v virus is a low pathogenic influenza virus found in pigs. Humans occasionally become infected. There have been at least 45 cases around the world, with 41 recorded in the Americas. The majority of the cases had contact with pigs, and there have been no reports of cases occurring through the consumption of meat or human to human transmission. The CDC considers this to be an isolated case. The girl was given antivirals and responded favorably.
Chuang Jen-hsiang, Dep. Director-General, Centers for Disease Control: “The virus is not resistant to the drugs we have in stock, which are Tamiflu and Relenza, so there's no need to panic.”
The CDC said Taiwan's first case occurred in April 2021 and the patient was a five-year-old resident of central Taiwan. Her family was also engaged in the livestock industry. Both cases recovered after treatment. The public is reminded to get flu vaccines. They should also refrain from eating raw poultry and eggs, feeding poultry, releasing or abandoning poultry, and going to crowded places with poor ventilation.
國內又出現新型豬流感病毒。中部一名7歲女童，近期沒有出國史，家中有養豬場。今（2022）年9月24日出現發燒、咳嗽、流鼻水等症狀，2天後因發燒就醫，新冠快篩陰性、流感快篩A型陽性。經疾管署實驗室進一步檢驗，為H1N2v流感病毒，是我國有史以來，第2例新型豬流感病毒。
疾管署副署長莊人祥指出：「豬的H1N2v就屬於比較輕症啦，而且目前我們看到這2例也都是在小孩身上，目前都沒有發生比較嚴重的症狀。」
疾管署表示，H1N2v是存在於豬隻的低病原性流感病毒，偶爾有人類感染案例，全球累計至少有45例，以美洲41例最多。病例多有豬隻接觸史，還沒有透過食用肉品感染案例，也沒有人傳人跡象，屬於散發個案。所幸克流感、瑞樂沙等抗病毒藥物，可以有效治療。
疾管署副署長莊人祥說明：「培養出來的病毒，事實上對我們目前儲備的克流感跟瑞樂沙，事實上都沒有抗藥性，所以這個部分也是請大家放心。」
疾管署強調，國內首例新型豬流感案例是去年4月檢出，為中部5歲女童，家中也是從事禽畜養殖業，兩案例治療後都已康復。因此提醒民眾，防範新型A型流感要接種流感疫苗，另外也不要生食禽鳥蛋類製品、不接觸餵食禽畜、不野放或隨意丟棄禽畜，也不要去空氣不流通或人潮擁擠的場所。
