Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the studies published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the University of Sydney and China Agricultural University on the G4 influenza virus.

The article Prevalent Eurasian avian-like H1N1 swine influenza virus with 2009 pandemic viral genes facilitating human infection published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 29 June 2020 describes a surveillance study of pigs in slaughterhouses and a veterinary hospital in China carried out between 2011 and 2018.

Of the 30,934 samples from 10 different provinces, 165 tested positive for the Eurasian-avian (EA) like H1N1 swine influenza. Of those testing positive, 77 were selected for genetic sequencing, and 29 were identified as having the Genotype 4, described by the authors. The use of a ferret model indicated that the Genotype 4 virus can infect and transmit.

A serological study (analysis of antibodies in the blood) of farm workers on 15 farms over the period of the study, suggests that approximately 10-12% of farm workers had detectable, specific antibody to G4 H1N1 viruses, indicative of previous infection. The publication is not clear if these were farms that were directly related to the surveillance programme. It would also not be possible to determine when these infections occurred.

The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group is reviewing the risk associated with the genotype 4 (G4) reassortant Eurasian avian-like (EA) H1N1 virus, described in this publication.