A new flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential “pandemic virus”, researchers warn. 

However, experts say there is no imminent threat.

The team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs between 2011 and 2018 and found a ‘G4’ strain of H1N1 that had “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus”.

Pig farm workers also showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood, the authors wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.