Detects influenza virus with 'pandemic potential' in China

That's the result of a study published June 29 in the Science Journal of the US National Academy of Sciences.

The new swine flu virus, named G4 EA H1N1, is genetically derived from the H1N1 influenza strain that caused the 2009 pandemic. The team (including scientists from Chinese universities and the Centers for Control and Prevention) China Disease Prevention (CCDC) said: "G4 has all the necessary characteristics to show high adaptability to infected people".

From 2011 to 2018, researchers took 30,000 pieces of nasal gauze from pigs in slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces and in a veterinary hospital, allowing them to isolate 179 types of swine flu virus. One of them is the new one that has been dominant in pigs since 2016.

The researchers then carried out various experiments including ferrets, which are widely used in flu studies because of their similar symptoms to humans - mainly fever. , coughing and sneezing.

Observed, G4 is highly contagious , can grow and multiply in human cells and cause more severe symptoms in ferrets than other viruses.

Researchers fear the virus could mutate, leading to easy human-to-human spread and global outbreaks. (Photo: AP).

Tests also show that people get new strains of swine flu when exposed. According to blood tests (antibodies generated when exposed to the virus), 10.4% of people who work in slaughterhouses and raise pigs are infected.

Therefore, the main concern of scientists is that the virus is transmitted from animals to humans but there is no evidence that it can be transmitted from humans to humans.

The researchers wrote: "The concern is that the new virus infection is adaptive and increases the risk of a human pandemic . " Researchers fear it could be even more mutant, leading to easy human- to- human spread and a global outbreak.

Therefore, the research team called on local authorities to take urgent measures to monitor people working in pig farms and slaughterhouses. Because of this new swine flu strain, humans may have little or no immunity to the virus.

"The research is given as a strong reminder that there is always a risk of new pathogens and animals , " said James Wood, head of veterinary science at the University of Cambridge (UK). Farmers, whose people are more exposed to wildlife , may play a role in the source of pandemic viruses. "