The 2009 swine flu pandemic, an influenza outbreak commonly known as "swine flu", affected Portugal from May 2009 to early 2010. The outbreak caused 122 deaths in the country.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic, an influenza outbreak commonly known as "swine flu", affected Portugal from May 2009 to early 2010. The outbreak caused 122 deaths in the country.
On 4 May, there was one confirmed case in Lisbon, Portugal, but it did not represent any concern, because the risk of transmission was no longer present at that time. [1]
On 1 June, Ana Jorge, the Portuguese Health Minister, confirmed the second case in Portugal, a 33-year-old man who travelled from the United States, first landing in Frankfurt, Germany. The case was reported at São João Hospital, Oporto. [2] On 30 June, five new cases were announced in Portugal elevating the total number of cases to 18. [3]
The first known cases resulting from human-to-human transmission were reported on 4 July (one in Azores, and the other one in Lisbon). [4] On 7 July, the first school was closed down for prevention, in Lisbon, as well as a kindergarten in Azores. The next day the first case was confirmed in the Braga district, making the total cases 61. As of 14 July, there were a total of 96 confirmed cases in Portugal. [5] On this day, it was also announced that Faro's Hospital would join, on 15 July, the set of hospitals in the country capable of receiving patients infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus. [6] Total cases rose to 154 on 20 July. [7]
Government officials stated that the worst-case scenario in Portugal would be 25% infection with a mortality of 0.1%, i.e. 8700 deaths. [8]
The outbreak started to spread more rapidly in September; on the 13th, Portugal had 9618 cases officially confirmed. The first death was reported on 23 September. [9] By 28 October, there had been four deaths - two men, one woman and one child [10] - and there were more than 25,000 cases confirmed. As of 4 December, there were 121,677 cases confirmed and 24 deaths. The final death toll, reported in May 2010, was 122. [11]
In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxovirus that contains the glycoproteins hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N), antigens whose subtypes are used to classify the strains of the virus as H1N1, H1N2 etc. Hemagglutinin causes red blood cells to clump together and binds the virus to the infected cell. Neuraminidase is a type of glycoside hydrolase enzyme which helps to move the virus particles through the infected cell and assist in budding from the host cells.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic in Canada was part of an epidemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 causing what has been commonly called swine flu. In Canada, roughly 10% of the populace has been infected with the virus, with 428 confirmed deaths ; non-fatal individual cases are for the most part no longer being recorded. About 40% of Canadians have been immunized against H1N1 since a national vaccination campaign began in October 2009, with Canada among the countries in the world leading in the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated. The widespread effect of H1N1 in Canada raised concerns during the months leading to the XXI Olympic Winter Games, which took place in Vancouver in February 2010.
This article covers the chronology of the 2009 novel influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. Flag icons denote the first announcements of confirmed cases by the respective nation-states, their first deaths, and relevant sessions and announcements of the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union , and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
In March and April 2009, an outbreak of a new strain of influenza commonly referred to as swine flu infected many people in Mexico and parts of the United States causing severe illness in the former. The new strain was identified as a combination of several different strains of Influenzavirus A, subtype H1N1, including separate strains of this subtype circulating in humans and in pigs. Spain was the first country in continental Europe to report cases of swine flu, in late April 2009.
Australia had 37,537 confirmed cases of H1N1 Influenza 2009 and 191 deaths reported by Department of Health but only 77 deaths reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The actual numbers are much larger, as only serious cases warranted being tested and treated at the time. Suspected cases have not been reported by the Department of Health and Ageing since 18 May 2009 because they were changing too quickly to report. Sources say that as many as 1600 Australians may have actually died as a result of this virus. On 23rd of May 2009 the federal government classified the outbreak as CONTAIN phase except in Victoria where it was escalated to the SUSTAIN phase on 3rd of June 2009. This gave government authorities permission to close schools in order to slow the spread of the disease. On 17 June 2009 the Department of Health and Ageing introduced a new phase called PROTECT. This modified the response to focus on people with high risk of complications from the disease. Testing at airports was discontinued. The national stockpile of antiviral drugs were no longer made available to people with the flu unless there were more than mild symptoms or a high risk of dying.
This article deals with the status and efforts regarding the 2009 swine flu pandemic by country and continent/region.
In March and April 2009, an outbreak of a new strain of flu, popularly known as swine flu, was discovered to have infected several people in Mexico and the states of California and Texas in the United States. On April 28 Costa Rica became the first Central American country to report the outbreak of the virus, with a confirmed infection. As of November 4 the Costa Rican Ministry of Health had 1,596 confirmed cases, 1,275 pending cases, 8,000 already discarded, and 38 deaths.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic in Brazil began on April 25, 2009, with two people, spreading to 34 over the first two weeks. CDC calculate that Africa and Southeast Asia, which have 38% of the world's population, accounted for a disproportionate 51% of the deaths.
The influenza A virus subtype H1N1 arrived in Argentina in late April 2009, through air traffic contact with endemic areas, especially Mexico and the United States. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Argentine health authorities expressed their concern from the beginning of the outbreak, that the imminent arrival of the southern winter could cause "more serious" effects in the southern hemisphere than those caused in Mexico, and could lead to a rebound of the epidemic around the world. The flu or influenza is mainly a seasonal disease that becomes most prevalent in winter.
The 2009 flu pandemic in South America was part of a global epidemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, causing what has been commonly called swine flu. As of 9 June 2009, the virus had affected at least 2,000 people in South America, with at least 4 confirmed deaths. On 3 May 2009, the first case of the flu in South America was confirmed in a Colombian man who recently travelled from Mexico – since then, it has spread throughout the continent. By far, the most affected country has been Chile, with more than 12,000 confirmed cases, 104 deaths, and the highest per capita incidence in the world.
The 2009 flu pandemic in Asia, part of an epidemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 causing what has been commonly called swine flu, afflicted at least 394,133 people in Asia with 2,137 confirmed deaths: there were 1,035 deaths confirmed in India, 737 deaths in China, 415 deaths in Turkey, 192 deaths in Thailand, and 170 deaths in South Korea. Among the Asian countries, South Korea had the most confirmed cases, followed by China, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic in North America, part of a pandemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 causing what has been commonly called swine flu, began in the United States or Mexico.
The 2009 flu pandemic in Oceania, part of an epidemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 causing what has been commonly called swine flu, has afflicted at over 22,000 people in Oceania, with 56 confirmed deaths. Almost all of the cases in Oceania have been in Australia, where the majority of cases have resulted from internal community spread of the virus. In addition, the government of New Zealand, where most of the remainder of cases in Oceania have occurred, is on high alert for any people travelling into the country with flu-like symptoms.
The 2009 flu pandemic in Europe was part of a pandemic involving a new strain of influenza, subtype H1N1. H1N1 is commonly called swine flu. The pandemic infected at least 125,550 people in Europe. There were 458 confirmed deaths in Turkey, 438 confirmed deaths in Russia, and 457 confirmed deaths in the United Kingdom.
The Influenza A (H1N1), also known by the name of swine flu, arrived to Uruguay on May 27, 2009.
The Influenza A (H1N1), also known as the swine flu, was detected in Venezuela on 28 May. The first infected person was a 22-year-old man in San Antonio de Los Altos, Miranda State. He was participating on a meeting in Panamá, and returned to Venezuela carrying the virus
The United States experienced the beginnings of a pandemic of a novel strain of the influenza A/H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as "swine flu", in the spring of 2009. The earliest reported cases in the US began appearing in late March 2009 in California, then spreading to infect people in Texas, New York, and other states by mid-April. Early cases were associated with recent travel to Mexico; many were students who had traveled to Mexico for Spring Break. This spread continued across the country's population and by the end of May there were approximately 0 confirmed cases throughout all 50 states.
The 2014 Portugal legionellosis outbreak was an outbreak of legionellosis in multiple cities of the Lisbon district in Portugal, caused by the release of Legionella bacteria from the cooling towers of a fertilizer plant in Forte da Casa, Vila Franca de Xira. It began on 7 November 2014 and affected mostly people in Póvoa de Santa Iria, Forte da Casa and Vialonga, in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira. Paulo Macedo, the Portuguese Health Minister, declared the outbreak extinct on 21 November. The outbreak resulted in 375 cases and 12 casualties.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal was a part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. On 2 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have reached the country when it was reported that two men, a 60-year-old doctor who travelled to the north of Italy on vacation and a 33-year-old man working in Spain, tested positive for COVID-19. On 16 March 2020, the first death from COVID-19 was reported in Portugal.