Scientists in China have identified a new flu strain that may have pandemic potential. The virus has recently appeared and is transmitted by pigs, but scientists say it can also infect humans.
- A new strain of flu can mutate enough to easily infect people and travel between them
- The strain discovered in China is similar to the swine flu virus that caused the 2009 pandemic
- “We are currently focused on the coronavirus, and rightly so, but we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses,” said one of the authors of the study on a new strain of influenza virus
New strain of influenza virus in China
Scientists in China have described a new strain of influenza virus that may have pandemic potential in the journal Proceeddings of National Academy of Sciences, the BBC reported. The strain has been detected in pigs, but researchers fear it may mutate further to easily spread between humans and trigger a global epidemic.
While the researchers add that it will take some time for the virus to mutate enough to be dangerous to humans, it should be closely monitored as it has “all the characteristics” that could allow it to adapt to infect humans. It could be fatal because that’s why, that the strain is new, the immune system of the human body is not prepared to fight it.
See: Why are zoonotic viruses dangerous to humans? Scientists explain
A new strain like swine flu
In 2009, there was a swine flu pandemic that started in Mexico. It was less lethal than initially feared, largely because the elderly were immune to it, due to the virus’s similarity to other flu viruses.
A new strain identified in China is similar to the swine flu virus (A / H1N1pdm09) but has some changes. The new virus has been dubbed G4 EA H1N1 and has so far posed no threat, but Professor Kim-Chow Chang and his colleagues who have researched the virus say it should be looked after.
The new strain of influenza can multiply in the cells that line the human airways. Researchers found evidence of recent infections with this strain in people who worked in slaughterhouses and pig farms in China.
See also: A new virus in Paris. Detected using the same technique as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
Current flu vaccines are likely not to protect against the new strain, but the researchers say they can be adapted if needed. Professor Kin-Chow Chang, who works at the University of Nottingham in the UK, told the BBC: “We are currently focused on the coronavirus, and rightly so, but we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses.”
Prof. James Wood, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, told the BBC that the discovery of a new strain of influenza virus is a reminder that we are constantly exposed to new pathogens, and that farm animals that we come into contact with more than wildlife could be an important source potentially pandemic viruses.
The editorial board recommends:
- Scientists have discovered six previously unknown coronaviruses. Their carriers are bats
- The coronavirus has already undergone at least six serious mutations. What about the vaccine then?
- Coronavirus no longer cares? Accurate summary Andrzej Rysuje