A new swine flu virus is spreading to pig farm workers in China. While a recent study warns that the new swine virus should be urgently placed under control to avoid another pandemic.
H1N1 has a high transmittance and initially spread in 2009, killing about 285 thousand people.
While the new virus, known as G4 EA H1N1, has been present on Chinese farms since 2016 and spreads to the respiratory tract. So far, infected people have not been infected, but experts fear that could change.
The study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was based on surveillance conducted in 10 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2018. In the last 3 years, researchers collected 338 blood samples from workers at 15 pig farms and 230 from nearby residents.
The study found that 10.4% of workers and 4.4% of others tested positive for G4 EA H1N1 antibodies and workers were between the ages of 18-35.
According to Ian H. Brown, head of the virology department at Britain's Animal and Plant Health Agency, risk prediction is not an exact science, but it would be advisable to pay more attention to the virus.
