Main image via VCG , NST
The world is still in the midst of battling the COVID-19 pandemic and researchers are now saying that a new swine flu in China has been identified with “pandemic potential”.
According to a study that was published, researchers noted that the new type of swine flu named G4 EA H1N1 was identified and is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused the pandemic in 2009.
Scientists at Chinese universities and China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the virus possesses “all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans.”
Researchers observed that the G4 is highly infectious and while the virus is said to have already been passed from animals to humans, the scientists worry that it can be passed from human to human too, but have yet to find any evidence.
30,000 nasal swabs were taken from 2011 to 2018 and scientists have been carrying out experiments on ferrets that are used for flu studies due to their similarities of their symptoms in comparison with humans.
10.4 percent of the swine workers are said to have already been infected with the virus with 4.4 percent of the general population exposed to it.
“It is of concern that human infection of G4 virus will further human adaptation and increase the risk of a human pandemic,” the study wrote.
Columbia University virologist, Dr. Angela Rasmussen however, said that potential of a pandemic from the influenza strain is limited after the study was published.
"Sure, this virus meets a lot of the basic criteria but it's not for sure going to cause a hypothetical 2020 flu pandemic, or even be a dominant strain in humans."
Biologist Carl Bergstrom from the University of Washington also said that “there's no evidence that G4 is circulating in humans, despite five years of extensive exposure” and that it’s “no immediate threat to public health.”
He added that if the virus does indeed undergo some evolutionary change to spread readily in people, “we know how to make vaccines for influenza viruses. It could be included in the seasonal vaccine; the only issue is timing.”
So while the virus does have a “potential” for causing a pandemic, you should not panic because while the current flu vaccines don’t protect you from the G4 strain, the next batch could be if it ever reaches pandemic proportions.
Conclusion: don’t panic.
Info via Science Alert , CNET
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