Hong Kong flu has changed: the US faces an unusual virus wave — what it means for Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz — At the end of 2025, dozens of countries around the world saw a sharp rise in influenza cases. In the United States, the current flu season is already being described as the most severe in the past 25 years. International media link the surge to a mutated variant of the H3N2 virus, known as Hong Kong flu. The new strain is now increasingly referred to as a “super flu”. What does this mean for Kazakhstan, and should the country expect a new wave? Tengrinews explains.
From Australia to Europe: how the virus is spreading
The sharp rise in cases is linked to a new wave of the virus — subclade K of the H3N2 strain. It was first detected in Australia and New Zealand, then in Japan and the United Kingdom. Soon after, it was identified in more than 30 countries worldwide, according to the BBC.
Derek Smith, director of the Centre for Pathogen Evolution at the University of Cambridge, said the virus has undergone seven mutations.

“It will almost certainly spread across the world,” the professor predicted.

The impact has been especially severe in the United States. According to CNN, the country is experiencing its most intense flu season in a quarter of a century. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that at least 11 million people have been infected, 120,000 have been hospitalized, and around 5,000 cases have resulted in death. Experts attribute this trend to the mutated H3N2 variant.
What is happening in Kazakhstan
In response to Tengrinews’s inquiry, the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control under Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health reported that laboratory monitoring shows circulation of three types of influenza viruses in the country:

A(H3N2);
A(H1N1);
Influenza B.

No untypable or new influenza viruses have been detected in Kazakhstan, the committee said.

“Alongside influenza, other respiratory infections are being identified, including rhinoviruses, parainfluenza viruses, bocaviruses, adenoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus, and metapneumovirus,” the official statement noted.

Subclade K is not a “new virus”
Health authorities emphasized that subclade K of the H3N2 strain does not represent a new type of influenza. Instead, it reflects changes within already known virus types — a natural evolutionary process.

“These kinds of changes are precisely why the composition of influenza vaccines is updated every year,” the committee explained.

The Committee of Sanitary and Epidemiological Control said Kazakhstan’s current epidemiological situation regarding influenza and acute respiratory viral infections remains within normal seasonal levels typical for winter.
No signs of a new or atypical pathogen have been detected.
Earlier the World Health Organization has warned of the possible further spread of the Nipah virus due to the limited level of scientific knowledge about the disease. Expert explained how to avoid infection while traveling.