A new strain of swine flu virus with the potential to cause another pandemic has emerged, causing concern to health planners. The new strain, a variant of H3N2 virus that circulates in pigs, has acquired a gene from the pandemic human influenza, H1N1, virus that created a worldwide health scare in 2009. The H3N2 variant is capable of spreading from pigs to humans, in particular, those who are in close contact with the animals. Doctors fear that it could become capable of human-to-human transmission and turn deadlier.
“Viruses, particularly those of the influenza variety, are capable of spreading from animals-to-man and from man-to-man,” said infectious diseases expert Dr Suneetha Narreddy of Apollo Hospitals, adding, “but there is no immediate cause for concern in India, since so far, there had been only one case of human-to-human transmission, not sustained transmission. The new virus variant has been reported from three American states and a few pockets outside. Though no cases of the H3N2 variant have been reported from India, the chances of its spreading are quite high because of the passenger traffic between India and the US. Most of the cases related to new pathogens or strains of existing germs go unreported in India as there is no constant surveillance or well-equipped laboratories that can detect them.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest healthcare body in the US, reported on Saturday that the H3N2 variant contains the M-gene from the human influenza-A (H1N1) virus. “Most human illness with H3N2 virus infection has resulted in signs and symptoms of influenza (fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, muscle aches),” a CDC research study said.