Chinese scientists warn that pigs could be the source of the next pandemic as strain of swine flu in China has potential to spread to humans

Chinese scientists have warned that pigs are a 'key intermediate host' or 'mixing vessel' for viruses spreading from wild animals into humans and could cause another pandemic if not taken seriously.

Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have been studying outbreaks of swine flu in pig farms across the country and say the latest strain can pass to humans even though only two people are confirmed to have caught the virus, dubbed G4 EA H1N1, since the first outbreak in 2016.

The researchers who say the disease is 'highly adapted' to infect humans are now calling for monitoring of farms and people working on or near them as further transmission could cause the virus to 'adapt and become a pandemic'.

The two cases of a G4-like EA H1N1 virus were of a 46-year-old and a 9-year-old.

'Epidemiological survey found that the two patients had neighbours who reared pigs, suggesting that G4 EA virus could transmit from swine to human, and lead to severe infection and even death.'

During tests of the virus in ferrets they found symptoms such as fever, sneezing, wheezing, and coughing were all common.

George Gao, Jinhua Liu, and colleagues isolated 179 viruses from pigs across 10 provinces in China from 2011 to 2018 to study the risks they pose to humans and found that since 2016 the majority of viruses found in farmed pigs exhibited features you'd expect from the populace during a pandemic.

According to the scientists, out of 300 samples taken from pig farmers on 15 different pig farms, only 10.4 per cent had antibodies against this strain of the virus.

This means the virus poses a particularly strong chance of pandemic spread according to the scientists.

'All of this evidence indicates that G4 EA H1N1 virus is a growing problem in pig farms, and the widespread circulation of G4 viruses in pigs inevitably increases their exposure to humans,' study authors wrote in their paper.

Comments

NAPTIP arrests Islamic teacher for sexually exploiting 16 year old student in Maiduguri

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Maiduguri Zonal Command, has arrested a 28-year-old Islamic teacher over alleged sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old student. A statement issued by the agency on Thursday, August 5, said the suspect, Yanga Abdullahi of Maura ward, is a teacher at Darul-Arqam Islamiyya school, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. "The suspect sexually exploited a 16-year-old girl of Mairi Kuwait area, Maiduguri, Borno State. She is a student of the suspect at Darul-Arqam Islamiyya school Maiduguri." the statement read.

NBA Youngboy now a father of 7 at age 21 after welcoming child with Yaya Mayweather

NBA YoungBoy, who turned 21 in October 2020, has welcomed his 7th child already. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-born rapper welcomed his 7th child with Yaya Mayweather, the 20-year-old daughter of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Back in October, Yaya’s father, Floyd Mayweather Jr., confirmed that his daughter and NBA YoungBoy were expecting their first child, saying: "I just want the best for my daughter, always want the best. If that makes her happy, then we’re happy, me and her mother are happy." Just last year, on November 26, while awaiting the birth of his seventh child, Youngboy welcomed his 6th child with actress Drea Symone. His 6th and 7th children are less than 2 months apart in age. YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, began having kids as a teenager. Most of his kids are really close in age. At age 18, he already had 4 kids (read here ). In total, the 21-year-old rapper has 5 sons...

Pres. Buhari’s poverty alleviation, job creation programmes are the best in Nigerian history — Lai Mohammed

President Muhammadu Buhari’s N75 billion National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), among other initiatives targeted at creating jobs for the youths and alleviating poverty among women and vulnerable groups remain the best in the history of the country, the federal government has said. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this in Kaduna at a meeting of the Northern Governors Forum with traditional rulers on the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest. “No government in the history of this country has ever methodically and seriously put in place measures aimed at addressing poverty alleviation and creating jobs for youths like this administration,” he said.

Laie.Tv

Search This Blog