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New Virus In Pigs Has Potential Pandemic Risk - Scientists Warn

In China, a  new flu virus has been found in pigs which has now  become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential "pandemic virus", a new study has found. A team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 and found a ("G4" strain of H1N1) with "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus", according to the paper, which was published in the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS. This is because workers on pig farms showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood, the authors said, adding that "close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in the swine industry, should be urgently implemented.