6 reasons why new swine flu

virus in China is a serious worry

Even as the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic,
Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is
capable of triggering a pandemic. The new strain of influenza was
recently discovered in pigs that has the potential to infect humans.

India TV News Desk

New DelhiUpdated on: July 01, 2020 0:02 IST

Image Source : AP/FILE

6 reasons why new swine flu virus in China is a serious worry

Even as the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Researchers in China have
discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic. The new
strain of influenza was recently discovered in pigs that has the potential to infect
humans. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a
pandemic in 2009. The virus can grow and multiply in the cells that line the human
airways. They found evidence of recent infection starting in people who worked in
abattoirs and the swine industry in China. Current flu vaccines do not appear to protect
against it, although they could be adapted to do so if needed.

Here are 6 reasons why new swine flu virus is a serious worry

The G4 EA H1N1 flu virus is already circulating among swine

It has been getting around and reproducing among the swine population in China for a
while. Between 2011 and 2018, researchers took 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in
slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces. From 2011 to 2013 the most common variant
of the EA H1N1 flu virus was the genotype 1 (G1) strain. But mutations in this strain
eventually led to the emergence of a genotype 4 (G4) variant. Every year since 2014, this
G4 variant became more and more common eventually, surpassing its original G1
master to become the single predominant genotype of the EA H1N1 flu virus among the
swine population in China.

The G4 EA H1N1 flu virus can bind to human-like SAα2,6Gal

receptors
“SAα2,6Gal” is the name of a receptor found on cells that line your respiratory tract.
Binding such receptors could help the virus attach itself to and eventually get into your
cells.

The virus can attach itself to human cells

It is not just any random human cell but cells that line with trachea. Trachea is the
windpipe, the tube that connects upper respiratory tract with the lower part of our
respiratory tract and lungs. So if a virus can bind to the cells that constitute your
trachea, it could subsequently make its way down into your lungs.

Ferrets infected with the virus can spread the virus to other
ferrets via respiratory droplets or direct contact
The researchers carried out various experiments including on ferrets, which are widely
used in flu studies because they experience similar symptoms to humans -- principally
fever, coughing and sneezing. G4 was observed to be highly infectious, replicating in
human cells and causing more serious symptoms in ferrets than other viruses.

The virus is different from the virus strains that are already in
flu vaccines
G4 EA H1N1 flu virus can infect and reproduce in cells lining your lower respiratory
tract. Tests also showed that any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu
does not provide protection from G4.

The virus has already infected humans and seems to be more

infectious
More than one in 10 swine workers in the new study had already been infected,
according to antibody blood tests which showed exposure to the virus. The tests also
showed that as many as 4.4% of the general population also appeared to have been
exposed.The virus has therefore already passed from animals to humans but there is no
evidence yet that it can be passed from human to human – the scientists’ main worry.