SHANGHAI / BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Saturday that the so-called “G4” strain of the swine flu virus is not new and does not easily infect or make humans and animals sick, rejecting a published study previously. week.
That study, conducted by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warned that a new swine flu virus, called G4, has become more infectious to humans and could become a potential “pandemic”. virus”.
However, China’s agriculture ministry said in a statement that the study has been interpreted by the media “in an exaggerated and not factual way.”
An analysis by the ministry concluded that the sampling from the published study is too small to be representative, while the article lacks adequate evidence to show that the G4 virus has become the dominant strain among pigs.
The ministry said it drew its conclusions after holding a seminar on the impact of the G4 virus on the pig industry and public health. Participants included Chinese veterinarians and antivirus experts, as well as lead authors of the PNAS study.
Participants agreed that the G4 virus is not new, according to the statement. Furthermore, the strain has been continuously monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and related agencies in China since 2011, according to the statement, citing a senior WHO official.
Furthermore, the authors of the published study agreed that the G4 virus does not replicate effectively in the human body and cause disease, according to the statement.
The ministry’s statement was written by Yang Hanchun, a swine viral disease scientist at China Agricultural University who also plays the role of expert on a ministry anti-epidemic committee.
Reports by Samuel Shen, Hallie Gu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
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