Pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza in pigs in Australia

Abstract

The novel H1N1 2009 virus that is the cause of the most recent human influenza pandemic is able to infect a number of animal hosts, most notably reported in domesticated swine. The first confirmed 2009 pandemic H1N1 (H1N1pdm) influenza infection of a commercial swine herd occurred in Alberta, Canada in late April 2009. The early incidences of H1N1pdm influenza in swine were of great concern to public and animal health agencies alike, and numerous subsequent cases were reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) by different countries following prevalence of the pandemic virus in the human population, including Australia. In almost all cases, outbreak investigations have indicated an epidemiological link with farm in-contact persons reporting recent influenza-like illness (ILI), some diagnostically confirmed as H1N1pdm infections. These have suggested interspecies transmissions from human to swine. This article describes the first reported cases and our investigations of swine influenza due to H1N1pdm virus in Australia.