–In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese researchers have discovered a strain of swine flu virus, which has all the characteristics of a virus with pandemic potential, according to a study.
Called the G4 virus, it could be very infectious, especially since it is a new virus for which there is none or very low immunity. The study was published in the American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by Chinese researchers who warn of the likelihood of animal-to-human transmission. Inter-human transmission has not yet been proven, however.
Scientists from Chinese universities and the Chinese Center for Control and Prevention (CDC) inform that the influenza virus required a large surveillance of pigs between 2011 and 2018, which led to the discovery of this new strain H1N1 , reports the Euronews media. In order to assess the transmissibility of the virus, a test was carried out on ferrets via droplets and direct contact. The results would have revealed that the virus has spread to all ferrets via these two modes of contamination. They assure however that it would not be an imminent threat but that the virus would present all the signs of being able to infect the humans and thus requires a great surveillance, in particular on the pigs and the employees in the industry.
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