Rishitha Jaladi(Intern Journalist): China, which has the largest pig population in the world, is spotted with the new swine flu virus named “G4“. The researchers in China stated that it’s a “recently emerged” new strain of Influenza virus that can trigger a pandemic. This study was published in the US science Journal on Monday.
The scientists carried out various experiments by collecting 29,000 nasal swabs from the slaughtered pigs and 1,000 swabs or lung tissues from farm pigs which have respiratory diseases. Out of the samples collected, 179 Swine flu viruses were isolated. The majority of these belong to the “G4” strain.
Scientists carried experiments on ferrets, which show similar characteristics as humans. It’s recorded that this “G4” virus can copy itself in human airway epithelial cells. As the virus is new, people might have little or no immunity towards this virus. Scientists reported that this strain has descended from the H1N1 strain that was responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic. The scientists write in the journal Proceedings of the national academy of sciences that measures should be taken to control the virus. And that can only happen by closely monitoring the Swine Industry workers.
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