Teen girl is Halton’s first confirmed case of swine flu

A teenage girl in Halton Region is one of five new confirmed cases of the virus in Ontario.

Ottawa confirmed its first case; another new cases was in Toronto while the Halton teen and two more in the Toronto area brought the provincial total to 36 cases.

All are mild cases and the people are recovering at home, said Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s acting chief medical officer of health.

The Halton teen and a 30-year-old woman in York Region are the first two confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus in Ontario. The individuals contracted the infection from another person and not from travelling to Mexico, Williams said.

“So we’re seeing some evidence of person-to-person, still very much close contact in a circle of family contacts at this stage,” Williams said. “This is not unusual and it’s not unexpected.”

Williams said he expects to see more human-to-human cases as the number of Canadian travellers returning from Mexico starts to taper off and travel-related cases begin to wane.