H3N2v Pennsylvania Cases Increase to 31 in 3 Counties
Recombinomics.com
August 24, 2012
Huntingdon (24), Lancaster (1), Mifflin (1), Unknown (5)
This new virus is different from previous H3N2 human infections because it also contains part of the 2009 H1N1 virus. It is the same virus we saw in three ill people who had all attended the Washington County Fair last year in Pennsylvania.
The above comments are from the Pennsylvania Department of Health website on H3N2v cases, which cites 6 confirmed and 25 probable cases linked to the Huntingdon County Fair. The above totals are from the August 23, 2012 update. The H3N2v cases are distributed in at least 3 different counties.
Although the site claims that the 2012 cases are the same as the 2011 cases at the Washington County Fair, this similarities is likely limited to the presence of an H1N1pm09 M gene. All released sequences to date have matched the sub-clade first reported in West Virginia, which was distinct from the first 10 cases in 2011, which included the 3 cases from the Washington County Fair.
Release of sequences from Pennsylvania would be useful.
