Spanish authorities have warned the World Health Organisation that the person may have contracted the virus from a human
11:51, 05 Mar 2026Updated 13:30, 05 Mar 2026
A case of swine flu in a human has been found in Catalonia, Spain with officials thinking it could have been caught from another person(Image: Getty)
Health officials have issued an alert after a case of swine flu was detected in a human last month. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said this marks the first case of H1N1v flu in Spain since 2024.
Since 2009, only four human cases of swine flu have been documented in Spain. The person had no known contact with pigs or environmental exposures. Spanish authorities have warned the World Health Organization that the person may have contracted the virus from a human.
The case was discovered in Catalonia and officials from the ECDC said: “According to the latest available information, the case has no known history of exposure to pigs or a contaminated environment.
“Cases of swine influenza have been sporadically reported in Spain and in other countries, the last case being from the autonomous region of Catalonia reported in 2024 (onset of symptoms in 2023).”
In Spain, a total of four human cases of swine influenza A(H1N1)v have been reported in the last 17 years, and no human to human transmission has been identified to date.
The ECDC said: “A sample taken as part of the acute respiratory infections surveillance system tested positive for influenza A. Subsequent testing was positive for swine influenza A(H1N1)v at the reference laboratory of the autonomous region of Catalonia.
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“The case remains asymptomatic, while epidemiological investigations are still ongoing.”
The ECDC said ‘sporadic human cases’ infected with influenza virus of swine origin have previously been reported from several countries globally, including in the EU. It added: “The exposure to infected pigs represents the most common source of infection in humans. Limited, non-sustained human-to-human transmission of variant influenza viruses has previously been documented, although it remains a rare event.
Swine flu in humans presents with symptoms similar to seasonal influenza, including high fever, dry cough, sore throat, severe headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea. Symptoms appear quickly and can be severe, especially in children, with potential for rapid progression to breathing difficulties.