New swine flu discovered in China not an immediate threat: Experts

The new flu virus is carried by pigs, but it could potentially adapt to become transmissible between humans, say researchers.

While countries around the world are trying their best to bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese researchers have found a new flu strain in pigs that they say has the potential to trigger a pandemic. Called the G4 virus, it is believed to be a version of the swine flu (H1N1 virus) that caused a pandemic in 2009.

The virus is carried by pigs, but it may mutate and become human-to-human transmissible, the researchers stated. If that happens, it could lead to another global outbreak, they warned.

The G4 virus isn't a big threat yet, but close monitoring of swine industry workers should is needed to prevent and prepare for a potential pandemic, the researchers noted in their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Here's why you Don't Need to Worry Too Much Yet

According to the researchers, about 10.4 percent of swine workers have already been infected by the virus. However, these were dead-end infections, which mean the infected people didn't spread it to other people. But the researchers fear that it could potentially adapt to become transmissible between humans.

The new swine flu virus can bind to a receptor in humans and replicate itself in people's airways. While current flu vaccines do not appear to protect against the new strain, researchers say the drugs could be adapted to work against it too if needed.

It's common for viruses to jump from one host to another, but not all of them cause a pandemic. The researchers noted that some get stuck in animal-to-human mode. For example, the H5N1 strain that appeared decades ago was initially thought to have the capability to trigger a pandemic.

H5N1 jumped from chickens to people, causing a severe illness with a high death rate. But human-to-human transmission never happened. But then it is difficult to estimate if and when a virus could start spreading person to person, they said.

Since so many people have dealt with H1N1 infection in the past, the researchers believe that they may have at least some degree of protection against the new virus too. Some parts of G4 virus are also found to be quite similar to past common flu strains. This suggests that they might easily be recognized by a person's immune system, the researchers asserted.

How to prevent an outbreak from occurring

Scientists already know a lot about this new strain and this information will enable them to monitor the virus better and prevent an outbreak from occurring. Advance knowledge about the virus's characteristics will also help scientists prepare a vaccine against the G4 virus if needed.

Some measures suggested by experts to prevent another flu pandemic include:

• Monitoring of people who are in close contact with the pigs
• Vaccination against flu viruses to stop the G4 virus from recombining itself with others and becoming more transmissible.
• Health officials should keep an eye on the G4 virus. Even if it's not an immediate threat, it could eventually become one.

The Chinese researchers have also called for immediate implementation of measures to control the virus in pigs and close monitoring of swine industry workers.