Image copyright
fake pictures
Scientists have identified a new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic in China.
It recently emerged and is carried by pigs, but they can infect humans, they say.
The researchers are concerned that it may mutate further so that it can easily spread from person to person and trigger a global outbreak.
They say it has “all the hallmarks” of being highly adapted to infect humans, and that it needs close monitoring.
As new, people may have little or no immunity to the virus.
Pandemic threat
A new strain of influenza is one of the main disease threats experts are watching, even as the world tries to end the current coronavirus pandemic.
The last pandemic flu the world found, the 2009 swine flu outbreak that started in Mexico, was less deadly than initially feared, in large part because many older people had some immunity, likely due to its similarity to other viruses. of flu that had been circulating for years. before.
- Coronavirus: this is not the last pandemic
That virus, called A / H1N1pdm09, is now covered by the annual flu shot to ensure that people are protected.
The new strain of flu that has been identified in China is similar to the 2009 swine flu, but with some new changes.
So far, it has not been a huge threat, but Professor Kin-Chow Chang and his colleagues who have been studying it say it is something to watch out for.
The virus, which the researchers call G4 EA H1N1, can grow and multiply in the cells that line the human airways.
They found evidence of recent infection that started in people working in slaughterhouses and in the pig industry in China.
Current flu vaccines do not appear to protect against it, although they could be adapted to do so if necessary.
Professor Kin-Chow Chang, who works at the University of Nottingham in the UK, told the BBC: “Right now we are distracted by the coronavirus, and with good reason. But we must not lose sight of the potentially dangerous new viruses.”
While this new virus is not an immediate problem, it says, “We shouldn’t ignore it.”
Scientists write in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that measures must be quickly implemented to control the virus in pigs and closely monitor working populations.
Professor James Wood, head of the University of Cambridge Department of Veterinary Medicine, said the work “comes as a healthy reminder” that we are constantly at risk of a new pathogen emergence, and that farm animals, with the Because humans have more contact than wildlife, it can act as a source of major pandemic viruses.
