The Freuling animals were not tested with the origin strain of the virus but with the much more infectious and transmissible 614G strain. At least once, in the case of H1N1 flu, the consequence was a global pandemic (Nakajima et al., 1978). Other researchers working on a variety of non-human animals have made similar observations, that, as in humans, 614D strains are moderately transmissible while 614G strains are much more so (Peacock et al., 2021, Hou et al., 202). Failure to test the origin strain on raccoon dogs is thus a remarkable oversight given the very reasonable likelihood that the origin strain is incapable of either infection or transmission. 2) 614D was entirely displaced by 614G as the pandemic progressed (Korber et al., 2020)3) 614D is outcompeted by 614G in all tested animals and cell types, including human cells (Hou et al., Peacock et al., 202; Zhou et al., 2020).

Source: Irish Independent June 29, 2023 09:06 UTC