White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told US that the new virus G4 EA H1N1 in China shares similar traits of the 2009 H1N1 virus and 1918 pandemic flu.
The virus, now called “G4 EA H1N1” by scientists, has not yet been proven to harm humans but it is manifesting “reassortment capabilities,” according to Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“In other words, when you get a brand new virus that turns out to be a pandemic virus it’s either due to mutations and/or the reassortment or exchanges of genes,” he told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during a hearing.
“And they’re seeing virus in swine, in pigs now, that have characteristics of the 2009 H1N1, of the original 1918, which many of our flu viruses have remnants of that in it, as well as segments from other hosts, like swine.”
The H1N1 swine flu and 1918 pandemic flu were regarded as dreadful viruses that spread worldwide.
The H1N1 swine flu was first reported in Mexico in April 2009, affecting 60.8 million people in the US alone and at least 700 million around the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus killed an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people worldwide and it is regarded as one of a variety of seasonal flu viruses.
The 1981 flu
The 1918 flu, which is often compared to Covid-19 by Dr. Fauci, reportedly killed between 30 million and 50 million people, based on CDC’s data. Moreover, by comparison, over 20 million people died in World War I.
Like Dr. Fauci, scientists say that the new virus G4 EA H1N1 that is present in pig farms in China has been proven to have “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.”
Dr. Fauci emphasized during the hearing that “the possibility that you might have another swine flu-type outbreak as we had in 2009.”
“It’s something that still is in the stage of examination,” he said. It’s not “an immediate threat where you’re seeing infections, but it’s something we need to keep our eye on, just the way we did in 2009 with the emergence of the swine flu.”
Fauci’s statements came as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the US, with the seven-day average of new cases rising by 5% or more in at least 40 states. Based on a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, these states include Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and Arizona.
Downplaying the virus
Health experts and physicians slammed the President Donald Trump’s administration for lack of coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak. Trump recently downplayed the virus, suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic is almost over, contrary to what experts in his own administration say.
Meanwhile, earlier in June, Dr. Fauci pointed out that Covid-19 has become his “worst nightmare” as the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide.
He added the virus is “very different” from other outbreaks such as HIV and Ebola. The virus was transmitted from an animal host and shows a high degree of transmissibility and mortality, he noted.
Dr. Fauci considers the coronavirus as historically one of the worst pandemics the world has ever experienced.
He said reopening schools in the fall season will depend on the dynamics of the outbreak and the particular location of the school in question.
