Researchers Discover New Swine Flu In China Called “G4”
NEW SWINE FLU IN CHINA – Amid the coronavirus pandemic, researchers have found another disease with the potential for global catastrophe.
Based on a study published by researchers in China in the US science journal PNAS, the new swine flu was named “G4”. Furthermore, it was known to be a genetic descendant of the H1N1.
READ: Hantavirus Begins To Plague China As COVID-19 Numbers Go Down
The researchers of the study were from Universities in China and their Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the authors of the study, G4 has every essential trait of being highly potent to infect humans.
Moreover, from 2011 to 2018, researchers of the study got 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in butcher shops in 10 Chinese provinces and veterinary hospitals. Through this, they managed to isolate 179 swine flu viruses.
Based on a report from ABS-CBN, most of the viruses were of a new strain dominant in pigs since 2016. Afterward, the various experiments were conducted on animals such as ferrets who are widely used due t having similar symptoms with humans.
The results revealed that the new swine flu strain, G4, was highly infectious in replicating human cells. Along with this, ferrets would get more serious symptoms than with other viruses.
Unfortunately, the researchers also discovered that any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not give protection against G4.
As per the article, the researchers wrote:
It is of concern that human infection of G4 virus will further human adaptation and increase the risk of a human pandemic.
With this, James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University emphasized that humans are constantly in danger of the emergence of zoonotic pathogens.
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