Researchers in China revealed yesterday that a new strain of virus that has the potential to cause another global pandemic has been discovered in pigs.
The dangerous virus named genotype 4, or G4, is said to genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu strain that caused an outbreak back in 2009.
Experiments with ferrets (which experience similar symptoms to humans), shows that the G4 virus could be highly infectious in humans.
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According to scientists at Chinese universities and China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus possesses “all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans”.
By the by, there is a swine influenza (G4 EA H1N1) that is showing all the hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.
From my colleague, an infectious disease specialist: "I rarely get worried, but this one bears close watching. This flu strain is very, very dangerous." pic.twitter.com/qBPQ2kDPBg
— Esther Choo, MD MPH (@choo_ek) June 30, 2020
Serious of experiments also shows that the virus could be very severe, as any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection from G4.
However, while G4 certainly has the capability of being our next pandemic, other scientists have said it had yet to reach that stage and may never.
Chinese media outlets have also played down concerns with warnings not to “overreact”. That’s despite the new strain being found in pigs in China.
Meanwhile, according to reports, one-in-10 people who worked with pigs in China are said to have contracted the virus.
