Indonesia takes measures to protect against new swine flu
Indonesia is already hit by the ASF outbreak but has new worries regarding the danger presented in a scientific paper released by Chinese researchers who have discovered a new form of swine flu that could easily jump to humans, raising the state of alert for a new pandemic wave in the near future. The Indonesian quarantine and inspection service ramped up its surveillance over the entry and outflows of meat and livestock products potentially spreading the swine influenza virus. "Systematic surveillance over the swine flu virus is the key precautionary measure against a possible influenza pandemic in future. We are preparing for its contingency plan," Director of Livestock and Animal Health at the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture I Ketut Diarmita stated, according to Antara news.
The discovery of this swine flu, with pandemic potential, had left people perplexed since they believed it was similar to that of the African Swine Fever (ASF), when in fact, they are two different diseases, noted Mr Diarmita. "The cases of hogs in Indonesia are related to the ASF and not to the swine flu," he clarified. Currently, the directorate is boosting the capacity of Indonesia's animal health laboratories to identify potential swine flu threats from the early stage.
Regarding the G4 EA H1N1 viruses, China's Global Times reported earlier that scientists from the China Agricultural University, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other institutes recently published their study in the US scientific journal, PNAS.
They revealed in their published report that the "pig influenza virus bearing genotype 4 (G4), which is contagious among pigs and has the possibility of jumping to humans, as the G4 virus is able to bind with human cells", according to the Chinese newspaper.
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