WILL
WILL REMAIN IN ISOLATION UNTIL BEING CLEARED BY A DOCTOR.
>>> WITH THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS
CONTINUING TO DEVASTATE THE
WORLD AND THE DEATH COUNT
CLIMBING, ESPECIALLY HERE IN
THE UNITED STATES, WE ARE NOW
HEARING ABOUT ANOTHER NOVEL
VIRUS FROM CHINA THAT COULD
POTENTIALLY CAUSE ANOTHER
PANDEMIC.
PANDEMIC.
PANDEMIC. OUR 9 EXPORT JOINING US NOW,
DR. KOHLI.
DR. KOHLI. >> Reporter: IT HAS A LOT OF
SIMILARITIES TO THE H1N1 OR THE
SWINE FLU FROM 2009.
BUT IT DESCENDS FROM THE
SPANISH FLU OF 1918.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT IT IS, THAT
IT HAS UNDERGONE RECOMBINATION.
IT'S A FLU VIRUS.
AND THE INTERMEDIATE HOST IS
PIGS.
PIGS.
PIGS. THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THE
SWINE FLU.
SWINE FLU. IT IS DEMONSTRATED POTENTIAL TO
INFECT HUMANS.
INFECT HUMANS. WE HAVE BEEN KEEPING AN EYE ON
THIS VIRUS SINCE 2016.
10% OF SWINE FLU WORKERS ARE
TESTING POSITIVE.
TESTING POSITIVE. THOSE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 8-35
ARE 20% POSITIVE SO THE AMOUNT
OF INFECTION IN HUMAN IS
AEARING TO BE GOING UP.
>> SO LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
HAVING POTENTIAL.
HAVING POTENTIAL. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT IT HAS
THAT TYPE OF POTENTIAL AND ARE
WE AS A WORLD OR EVEN AS A
NATION BETTER EQUIPPED TO DEAL
WITH IT HAVING UNDERSTOOD WHAT
WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T WORK IN
PREVENTING OR SLOWING DOWN
SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
>> Reporter: SO, PANDEMIC
POTENTIAL IF YOU RECALL REALLY
REQUIRES THREE KEY PIECES OF
THE RECIPE.
THE RECIPE. HALLMARKS TO HAVE PANDEMICS.
FIRST THING, IT HAS TO BE A
NOVEL VIRUS THAT NOBODY HAS
IMMUNITY TO.
IMMUNITY TO. JUST LIKE THE CORONAVIRUS WAS.
AND, WE KNOW THAT IS TRUE IN
THIS CASE.
THIS CASE. THE SECOND IS THAT IT ACTUALLY
HAS TO SHOW THAT IT CAN INFECT
HUMANS.
HUMANS.
HUMANS. WHICH IS AGAIN SHOWN TO BE TRUE
IN THIS CASE.
AND THEN, THE THIRD IS WE HAVE
TO SHOW SUSTAINED HUMAN TO
HUMAN TRANSMISSION.
HUMAN TRANSMISSION. SO, WE HAVE TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE
CAN SPREAD IT TO EACH OTHER.
AND FORTUNATELY, THIS HAS NOT
MET THAT THIRD CRITERIA YET.
NO HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION
SO FAR, ONLY ANIMAL TO HUMAN.
IT IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO KEEP
A CLOSE EYE ON.
IF THE VIRUS CHANGES JUST A
LITTLE AND WE LEARNED VIRUSES
ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING AND
MUTATING AND CAN EASILY GO INTO
THAT SPREAD MODE.
IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN HERE, WE
COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE ANOTHER
PANDEMIC ON OUR HANDS.
THE FACT WE ARE NOW SEEING MORE
INFECTIVITY IN HUMANS MEANS WE
HAVE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE
GENETICS OF THE VIRUS AND
UNDERSTANDING HOW IT SPREADS.
>> IT IS 2020 SO WE ARE
CERTAINLY EXPECTING THE WORST.
THAT'S JUST THE WAY THINGS HAVE
GONE.
GONE.
GONE. HOW
GONE. HOW WORRIED DO WE NEED TO BE
ABOUT THIS?
ABOUT THIS? WE ARE STILL DEALING WITH THE
CURRENT PANDEMIC.
CURRENT PANDEMIC. HOW AFRAID MIGHT WE BE OF WHAT
MAY BE TO COME?
>> Reporter: IT'S AN IMPORTANT
QUESTION.
QUESTION.
QUESTION. WE HAVE BECOME VERY FEARFUL.
I'M ONLY A LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT
THIS RIGHT NOW.
I DON'T WANT TO COMPLETELY
FORGET ABOUT IT BUT I'M NOT
SUPER WORRIED AND LET ME TELL
YOU WHY.
YOU WHY.
YOU WHY. THE FIRST IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU
SAID.
SAID.
SAID. WE
SAID. WE ARE A LITTLE DISTRACTED WITH
THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE CORONAVIRUS. WE ARE NOT PAYING AS CLOSE
ATTENTION TO OTHER POTENTIAL
NOVEL VIRUSES THAT COULD EMERGE
SO THAT WORRY ME A LITTLE BIT.
AND THE RATE OF INFECTIVITY IN
HUMANS HAS STARTED TO INCREASE
AND NO ONE HAS IMMUNITY TO IT.
ON THE FLIP SIDE, WE NOTICE IT
TO BE A NEW STRAIN OF THE VIRUS
AND THEY ARE TRYING TO CHANGE
THE FLU VACCINE TO MAYBE ADOPT
SOME OF THIS INTO THAT.
THE H1N1 STRAIN THAT EMERGED IN
2009 KILLED A LOT FEWER PEOPLE
THAN WE EXPECTED BECAUSE UNLIKE
THE CORONAVIRUS, WITH THE FLU
VIRUS, IT SEEMS THERE IS A LOT
OF CROSS REACTIVITY.
SO, EVEN IF PEOPLE DO GET SICK
WITH THE NOVEL STRAIN OF THE
VIRUS, THEY DON'T SEEM TO
NECESSARILY GET AS SICK BECAUSE
THEY MAY HAVE SOME PARTIAL
PROTECTION OFFERED TO THEM FROM
THEIR PRIOR FLU INFECTIONS.
I'M A LITTLE WORRIED AND WE
NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON IT BUT
I'M NOT SUPER