The “G4” Eurasian avianlike H1N1 viruses have “the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans,” researchers wrote in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
China has reported three cases of humans contracting the virus from pigs since 2016, although there is no evidence of human transmission.
Nevertheless, the CDC said it is taking action to prepare for a possible H1N1 pandemic. The agency has requested a virus sample from China to study and is evaluating whether an existing flu vaccine candidate could protect against this type of swine flu.
The CDC announced its preparations July 2, just three days after Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers that health officials were closely monitoring a new swine flu strain with characteristics similar to the strains responsible for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
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