Installed 23 March 2002 - Latest Update 30 May 2009.

The globe above shows (in red) states and countries where the new influenza strain A(H1N2) has been identified (isolated) during the 2001-2002 influenza season. (Where known, the numbers of cases are shown in superscript.) As of 30 August 2002, the season total for A(H1N2) in Canada was 72. See the update near the end of the article.

20 November 2001 - Philippines - Manila.
Philippine Health secretary says that the flu which hit Metro Manila schools (in the first week of October 2001) was influenza type B, not A, as earlier reported. Throat swabs showed that the virus was not Influenza AH1N1. Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer - Financial Times Information - (LNAU). (This virus identity crisis may merit special scrutiny. See the 18 January 2002 and 6 February entries for England.)

11 December 2001 - China - Beijing.
Two new influenza viruses emerge in Beijing. Experts do not expect a large scale outbreak. The story also reports long lines of influenza patients in the People's Hospital. Source: Xinhua News Agency - (LNAU).

9 January 2002 - China
China's CDC reports that flu is becoming full blown. Viruses are mostly of the Moscow and Caledonia strains. Symptoms include high-grade fever, muscle aches, headache and persistent cough, with some diarrhea. Young children are contracting rotavirus infection which leads to vomiting and diarrhea. Source: China Post - Financial Times Information - (LNAU). (See the 13 April 2002 United States - Virginia entry.)

18 January 2002 - England
Outbreak of flu-like illness in a Cornwall comprehensive school. [No longer available.]. About half the students are suffering respiratory symptoms but initial tests for influenza are negative. Further tests are underway. A second outbreak has occurred in a school in Scotland. Source: Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) - Infectious Diseases in the News.
[For material on UK infectious diseases, see: Health Protection Agency infection pages.]

5 February 2002 - China - Hong Kong.
64,000 chickens to be killed at a poultry farm in Kam Tin after 1,000 there died of suspected bird flu over the weekend. Tests are being conducted to see if the virus could affect humans. Source: Hong Kong Imail - World Sources, Inc. - (LNAU).

6 February 2002 - England.
WHO announces the isolation of a new strain of influenza virus- A(H1N2) - [No longer available.] - "The new strain has been so far been isolated from humans in England, Israel, and Egypt in the last few weeks. A similar event is reported to have occurred in China in the 1988/1989 influenza season when a number of influenza isolates were detected which were determined to have arisen as a result of reassortment. Further spread of these reassortment viruses in humans did not occur at that time." - Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) - Infectious Diseases in the News.

(For an overview of the earlier China findings, see Study on the origin of influenza A(H1N2) virus HA and NA genes [No longer available.] Report was in Chinese and English.)

At present this writer does not know the onset date for the 1988 appearance of H1N2 in China. (In this study Venus is a hypothetical source for new strains of influenza.) Venus passed between the sun and Earth on about 13 June that year. See: Calculated Dates of Venus Inferior Conjunctions. A search is underway to see how active the solar wind (the proposed transport mechanism) was at the same time. [Added 12 July 2002.] The H1N2 strain in China was identifed in December 1988. If that date corresponds to the initial outbreak then there would have been approximately 180 days between the 13 June inferior conjunction and the outbreak. [Added 28 May 2004.]

7 February 2002 - United States - Wisconsin.
Unusual Influenza Strain Identified in Wisconsin - [No longer available.] - A six month old child in Outagamie county became ill in December 2001 and has made a complete recovery. No additional cases have been detected. "The evolution of this virus, which has been named A/Wisconsin/12/2001(H1N2), appears to have resulted from the combination or "reassortment" of the genes of the currently circulating A/New Caledonia(H1N1) and the A/Moscow(H3N2) strains of influenza A." - Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services - Reference Center - 07 February 2002.

8 February 2002 - Europe.
First isolation of influenza A(H1N2) in Europe "In England, influenza A(H1N2) has been isolated for the first time in Europe. Isolates have come from both hospital and community sources, including three school outbreaks. Most of the cases so far have been in the 5-14 year age range. The A(H1N2) subtype has also been isolated in Scotland: one of the four typed isolates of this winter is an H1N2 and the three others are H3N2." European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS) - Week 5: 27/01/2002-03/02/2002 - Issue No. 54. (No H1N1 isolates are mentioned.)

England - PHLS Disease Facts - Influenza - (Updated as necessary.)
Frequently asked questions on Flu -Influenza A (H1N2) - [No longer available.]
Q   Where has this new strain come from?
A   The precise origin of the new strain is not known. The World Health Organization through its global influenza programme has reported that viruses of the new strain of influenza A have so far been identified in Egypt and Israel. Influenza A virus isolates from England, that have been submitted to the PHLS national influenza reference laboratory in London during this winter, have been examined. Many have also been found to be of the H1N2 subtype. In addition, isolates of the H1N2 strain have also continued to circulate both in England and in other countries. ...

9 February 2002 - Canada - International info.
"L'OMS et le Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) du Royaume-Uni ont rapporté une récente identification d'une souche humaine d'influenza A(H1N2) en Angleterre, en Israël et en Egypte. De plus, un virus d'influenza A(H1N2) a été identifié aux E.-U., au Wisconsin, d'un spécimen prélevé d'un patient en décembre 2001." Source: FluWatch - édition française 3 février au 9 février 2002 (semaine 06) - Canada

11 February 2002 - United States - Wisconsin
"Officials identify new flu virus - Health officials have identified a new influenza virus in Wisconsin that they think resulted from a genetic scramble of two different flu strains that simultaneously infected a 6-month-old Outagamie County child." [Underline added for emphasis.]

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified state health officials this week that a sample collected on Dec. 7 from the child was a novel virus to be named A-Wisconsin/12.2001 (H1N2), a combination of the H1N1 New Caledonia and H3N2 Moscow strains."
Source: JSOnline Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. [Link no longer works.]

11 February 2002 - Finland
Uusi A-virusten alatyyppi H1N2 - [No longer available.] - News release containing an announcement of WHO findings of H1N2 viruses. Source: KTL, Mikrobiologian osatsto, influenssalaboratorio, Helsinki.