Pigs in China are getting infected with a strain of influenza that could jump to humans and might lead to another pandemic.
A report in “Science:” has quoted Robert Webster, an influenza investigator who recently retired from St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as saying “it’s “guessing game” as to whether this strain will mutate to readily transmit between humans, which it has not done yet.
“We just do not know a pandemic is going to occur until the damn thing occurs,” Webster says noting that China has the largest pig population in the world. “Will this one do it? God knows.”
When multiple strains of influenza viruses infect the same pig, they can easily swap genes, a process known as “reassortment.”
Detailed report on P8