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This post may refer to COVID-19

This post may refer to COVID-19

To access official information about the coronavirus, access CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New swine flu with 'pandemic potential' discovered in China
www.cnn.com

New swine flu with 'pandemic potential' discovered in China

Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of virus in pigs that can infect humans and is capable of causing a pandemic, according to a new study on Monday. The disease, which researchers called the G4 virus, is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu.

Health

Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of swine flu that can infect humans and has the potential to cause a future pandemic, according to a study released on Monday, though scientists have cautioned that the virus does not pose an immediate global health threat.

The disease, which researchers called the G4 virus, is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused a pandemic in 2009. G4 now shows "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus," said the study, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

But Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University's public health school, warned the public not to "freak out."

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"Our understanding of what is a potential pandemic influenza strain is limited," she posted on Twitter. "Sure, this virus meets a lot of the basic criteria but it's not for sure going to cause a hypothetical 2020 flu pandemic, or even be a dominant strain in humans."