The whole world is currently struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, researchers in China have detected a new type of swine flu which is capable of taking the form of the pandemic. This is said in a study published on Monday in the American science journal PNAS. It is named as G4. It is genetically a variant of H1N1 that caused an epidemic in 2009.
According to Scientists and authors from Chinese universities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of China, 'It has all the things it needs to be highly adapted to infect humans.' From 2011 to 2018, researchers took nose swabs of 30,000 pigs from veterinary slaughterhouses of 10 Chinese provinces. This allowed them to differentiate 179 swine flu viruses.
This majority of viruses are of the same type that has been effective among pigs in 2016. The researchers then carried out various experiments on ferrets, which are widely used in flu studies. They experience symptoms similar to humans — such as fever, cough, and sneezing.
According to scientists, the G4 is a highly contagious virus. It replicates in human cells and causes more severe symptoms than other viruses. Tests have also shown that human immunity from exposure to seasonal flu does not protect it from G4. According to blood tests, 10.4 percent of the antibodies produced in the body of the infected were already found infected after exposure to the virus.
This virus has reached humans through animals, but there is no evidence that it can spread from human to human. Scientists are very concerned about this. Researchers wrote, 'It is a matter of concern that human infection adaptation of the G4 virus will increase further and the risk of pandemic also increases.' The authors called for immediate measures to monitor people working with pigs.
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