A Eurasian avian-like H1N1 (EAH1N1) swine flu virus was recently identified as potentially pandemic by Chinese researchers. The virus, which "pose the highest pandemic threat", has circulated in pigs and revealed to be able to infect humans as well.

Chen Hualan, director of China's National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, led the study and spoke to Xinhua news agency about the study that discovered the strain.

"Pigs are considered important intermediate hosts for flu viruses," Hualan explained in the recent written interview. "Based on scientific analysis and comprehensive comparison of the main animal flu viruses: H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H7N9, H9N2 and EAH1N1, we found the EAH1N1 is the one most likely to cause next human flu pandemic. We should attach great importance to the EAH1N1."

The study conducted by Hualan and his team included the identification of 228 flu viruses from 36,417 pigs across 24 provinces in China. They discovered that 139 of the identified strains are from the EAH1N1 lineage, suggesting that it is "the predominant swine flu virus circulating in pigs in China."

"Most of the EAH1N1 swine flu viruses can spread efficiently among humans," he said. "Current human flu vaccines and the preexisting immunity in the human population can't offer enough protection against these viruses."

The results of the group's research were published in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science where they cautioned in the abstract, "Our study shows the potential of EAH1N1 SIVs to transmit efficiently in humans and suggests that immediate action is needed to prevent the efficient transmission of EAH1N1 SIVs to humans."

Meanwhile, a separate research recently revealed that those who have contracted the H1N1 flu significantly more likely to also get a hyper-inflammatory disorder, according to the published study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases via Vaccine News Daily. The susceptibility to the disorder known as HLH, Rhlh or hemophagoytic lymphohistiocytosis is related to the overactive immune response that triggers inflammation to protect the body but can also break down vital organs.

"Viruses that cause robust immune responses may be more likely to trigger rHLH in genetically susceptible people," Dr. Randy Cron, a senior study investigator and physician in Pediatric Rheumatology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Children's of Alabama, explained. "Prenatal screening for mutations in common HLH-associated genes may find as much as 10 percent of the general population who are at risk for HLH when an inflammation threshold is reached from H1N1 or other infectious triggers."