A new flu that resembles the H1N1 virus is surfacing in the air of China. It recently emerged from pigs, considering China’s significant population of pigs. According to researchers, the virus can grow and multiply in cells linked to the human airways. The virus which they call G4 EA H1N1 started from people working in abattoirs and the swine industry in China, based on evidence found by researchers.
It is said that existing vaccines for flu do not seem to protect against this. “Distracted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous viruses,” says Prof. Kin-Chow Chang, who works at Nottingham University in the UK.
There is concern that it may further mutate to human beings and trigger a global outbreak. Researchers say that it has the potential to infect human beings and suggests close monitoring.
Robert Webster, an influenza investigator says that it is a guessing game with respect to if there is a chance for this to readily transmit between human beings. But this has not occurred yet. “We just do not know a pandemic is going to occur until the damn thing occurs,” she adds.
“The likelihood that this particular variant is going to cause a pandemic is low,” says Martha Nelson, an evolutionary biologist at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center. She studies pig influenza viruses and their spread to human beings in the United States of America.
She adds that no person was aware of the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 which resulted due to the virus transmitting from pigs to people until the first case was declared. Influenza “can surprise us” and there is high risk involved if neglected especially during COVID-19.