Saskatchewan saw first-ever case of H3N2v swine flu in July

It’s a disease so rare, there have only been four recorded cases in Canada since 2005.

One of those cases was detected in Saskatchewan last month. According to the province’s latest Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Report, a person tested positive for Swine Influenza A (H3N2)v on July 11.

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It is not the same H1N1 swine flu strain that caused a worldwide pandemic in 2009 and 2010, and now circulates as a seasonal flu.

No information was shared on where in Saskatchewan the person lives, but the individual was not hospitalized and has since fully recovered.

Dale Hunter, a spokesperson with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, indicated that while the person does live on a farm with cattle and pigs, they did not report direct contact with the livestock.

“The source of this infection could not be confirmed,” Hunter said in a statement.

According to the health ministry’s statement, Swine Influenza A viruses circulate in pig populations in many regions around the world, but human cases are very rare.

“This is only the fourth case in a Canadian resident since reporting began in 2005. Previous cases were in Manitoba in 2021, and Ontario in 2005 and 2016,” it read.

Symptoms can include fever and respiratory issues like a cough and runny nose, body aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.