The 2009 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]
