Swine flu: New H1N1 virus in Chinese pigs has potential to cause global pandemic

A new strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus with the potential to “transmit efficiently in humans” and cause a pandemic has been discovered in China. Scientists isolated 139 H1N1 swine flu viruses in pigs in China and found they formed two groups distinct from the current human H1N1 virus. The international team of researchers warned “immediate action” was required to prevent the transmission of this latest strain to humans. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, notes how the biological properties of swine flues are largely unknown. Pigs are important hosts of the flu virus. The Eurasian avian-like H1N1 (EAH1N1) swine flu virus has circulated since the late 1970s and in 2009, a strain of it caused a global pandemic that killed over 18,000 people. Analysis of this pandemic showed the virus had originated from animal influenza viruses and was not related to the human seasonal H1N1 viruses that have been...