# Meet the New Pandemic..Same as the Old Pandemic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774 "2020-06-30T12:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/1 "2020-06-30T12:55:05Z")
> **[New strain of flu found in China has potential to become a pandemic,...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/new-strain-of-flu-in-china-has-pandemic-potential-scientists-warns.html)** > > Scientists have identified a new strain of flu carried by pigs in China that they say has the potential to become a pandemic. Please let this not come to pass. Civilization as we knew it would be gone for decades. > [@](#): > > Scientists have identified a new strain of flu carried by pigs in China that they say has the potential to become a pandemic. > > The new strain is descended from the type of flu — known as “swine flu” — that emerged in 2009 causing the first global flu pandemic in 40 years. > > The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings in U.S. science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. They said the new strain of flu, which they called “G4 EA H1N1,” is a variation of swine flu, and includes the “G4” genotype that has become predominant in swine populations since 2016. > > As with swine flu, the new strain has been identified as having “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.” ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/2 "2020-06-30T13:29:02Z")
A couple of good Twitter threads by scientists discussing this [here](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1277734423723511809.html) and [here](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1277731224354648064.html). (Short version: don’t freak out.) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/3 "2020-06-30T13:34:38Z")
Thank you for this. Nothing to see in the OP…for now. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/4 "2020-06-30T14:12:32Z")
yup, as I have said in the past (not here) we’re doomed…sooner rather than later ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/5 "2020-06-30T22:05:30Z")
If only because we have so much more experience with strains of flu, developing/updating our vaccines would be much quicker than dealing with a novel coronavirus. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/6 "2020-06-30T22:59:08Z")
That scared me when I heard it on the news. We’re still reeling from COVID. We need this new thing like another hole in the head. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-new-pandemic-same-as-the-old-pandemic/913774/7 "2020-06-30T23:32:50Z")
China, specifically Beijing, is either in the second wave of COVID, or the first wave took a leisurely stroll from Wuhan to Beijing. The police have got the entire city on lockdown. ~VOW