A new strain of flu virus has been identified in China by scientists. Experts say this flu has the potential to become a pandemic.

They say that the flu virus has recently emerged and is carried by swine. However, it can infect humans as well. The bad strain of influenza is among the top disease threats, the world is already struggling to end coronavirus pandemic.

The researchers say that it can spread easily from one person to another. It needs close monitoring as it has “all the hallmarks” of infecting people.

People could have little to no immunity to this virus as it is new.

Prof Kin-Chow Chang, who works at Nottingham University in the UK, told the international news agency, “Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses.”

While this new virus is not an immediate problem, he says, “We should not ignore it.”

Prof James Wood, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, said the work “comes as a salutary reminder” that we are constantly prone to new diseases. Farmed animals, with which people have greater contact than with wildlife, may lead to the development of important pandemic viruses.

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