As the world attempts to bring the threats posed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to an end, scientists found a new strain of swine flu that has "pandemic potential."

The virus, which the researchers called G4 EA H1N1, emerged recently and can be found in pigs. However, experts are concerned that it may also infect humans.

In a report from BBC, researchers expressed concern over further mutations by the virus that can lead to easier transmission from person to person, triggering a global outbreak.

Workers in the swine industry should be closely and urgently monitored, along with other human populations, said the research team in an Al Jazeera article.

The authors noted an elevated level of the virus in workers from pig farms. The team of scientists also said that, while it is not an immediate problem, it displays "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus."

Since the swine flu was just a recent development, people are likely to have little to no immunity, the Fox News reported.

The team of Chinese researchers, who wrote in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," looked at influenza viruses in pigs from the years 2011 to 2018 and found a "G4" strain of H1N1 with said pandemic hallmarks.

Pigs were pointed out to be the intermediate hosts for the virus strain. The researchers stressed the importance of systematic surveillance of flu viruses in pigs when looking for signs of another possible pandemic.

The peer-reviewed study was authored by academics in various universities and institutions.

Pandemic Threat

One of the things the study highlighted was the risk of viruses crossing the species barrier, making it infectious to humans, who live in densely populated areas and, in this case, places that are close to farms, breeding facilities, slaughterhouses, and wet markets.

The swine flu of 2009, the last pandemic the world faced, was less deadly than first thought of. It is now covered by the annual flu vaccine.

The new virus is similar to the earlier 2009 swine flu, as it is a recombination of the H1N1 strain common in pigs. Carl Bergstrom of the University of Washington said there is no evidence of G4 infecting humans despite five years of exposure.

Coping With Coronavirus

The coronavirus itself has caused a pandemic that has affected America. New York City that has the highest number of coronavirus cases at 416,000, posed a threat to around 3.7 million Latinos living in the state.

In New York City alone, 34 percent of deaths from coronavirus come from the Latino community, said a report from Politico.

Texas also experienced its highest number of daily new cases last Thursday at nearly 6,000. The state had been experiencing new highs every day for the past days and hospitalizations in the state also increased.

Florida, on the other hand, experienced a spike in coronavirus cases among its younger population that pushed the median age of patients in the state from 65 to 55.

Retired Influenza investigator Robert Webster told Science magazine the chance of virus infecting humans remains a "guessing game."

"Will this one do it? God knows," he said.

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