Shanghai free of swine flu cases, reports CDC

No cases of the swine flu virus have been reported in Shanghai, the city's Center for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.

The Eurasian avian-like H1N1 swine influenza virus has limited transmission among humans. Local citizens should take proper prevention measures, but there is no need to panic, the Shanghai CDC said on Saturday, noting that pork is safe to eat.

Chinese scientists have examined influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 and discovered the variant genotype 4 Eurasian avian-like H1N1 virus (G4 EA H1N1) that can infect humans, according to a study recently published by the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus," the authors wrote, calling for measures to control the virus in pigs and closely monitor the situation.

Shanghai has 30 hospitals that have influenza-monitoring sites, including 19 at national level. They are monitoring influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infection continuously. The city also has over a dozen influenza laboratories at the city- and district-level CDCs that have the capability to detect the virus.

"These monitoring sites have so far found no G4 avian-like H1N1 virus in Shanghai," the city's CDC said.

All influenza virus can be killed by high temperatures during cooking, the CDC said.

Pork should be fully cooked, and people must wash hands after processing raw meat. Citizens are reminded to avoid buying meat products without quarantine inspection.

Citizens should avoid contact with pigs. Professionals must wear masks and gloves when touching animals.

People with influenza symptoms after contact with pigs must go to hospital immediately, the CDC said. Symptoms of the G4 influenza include fever, coughs and sore throats as well as other flu-like symptoms.

Also a World Health Organization expert said that the recently publicized swine flu in China was not new, and that it is under close surveillance.

According to the study, the virus is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused the pandemic in 2009 starting from Mexico. But it has blended the genes of two other strains similar to those found in European and Asian birds.

It can grow and replicate in human cells, the experiment showed. Blood tests of 338 swine workers found that 10.4 percent had antibodies of the virus, which means they had been infected.

However, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far.