A study by chinese researchers highlights this virus the H1N1 flu virus and its transmission from pig to human. It presents, according to them, the ” characteristics of a potential pandemic threat “.
The us scientific journal PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – has published the study on Monday, the result of seven years of testing in ten chinese provinces.
The researchers who conducted the study on this pathogen G4 have observed its transmission from pigs to man : the 10.4 % of workers in pig farms monitored have a high rate of this respiratory virus in the blood. That said, a transmission from human to human has not been demonstrated and no clinical case, severe is identified.
Monday, however, the WHO (world Health Organization) has called on scientists to ” not lower our guard “.
Under supervision
Where is therefore the concern around the virus G4 ? In fact, a study conducted on ferrets, the animals that have cellular receptors for influenza viruses in humans. And this study has shown that these ferrets catch it alive and well between them, with the ” damage to lungs, more severe than the H1N1 virus of 2009 “, according to the publication of Monday.
Interviewed by France 24, Colin Butter, a researcher in animal biology at the university of Lincoln, Britain, is cautious, but not especially worried. There is not, according to him, of urgent threat, especially as the results obtained on the ferrets are not necessarily transferable to humans because of biological mechanisms.
Same goes for Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Institut Pasteur, for whom ” these are phenomena that happens all the time “. On LCI, the researcher believes, however, that it should be monitored for this virus G4 EA H1N1 closely.
Author(s): FranceSoir
