Scientists have discovered a new virus named Langya
henipavirus (LayV) in China.
The discovery was announced in a letter written by
researchers from China, Singapore and Australia and published in the New
England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers, in their letter, said Langya virus is a
type of henipavirus, a category of zoonotic viruses which can be transmitted
from animals to humans.
They said acute Langya infection was identified in 35
patients in the Shandong and Henan provinces of China, among whom 26 were
infected with LayV only (no other pathogens were present). They said the
patients are thought to have contracted the virus from animals.
“These 26 patients presented with fever (100% of the
patients), fatigue (54%), cough (50%), anorexia (50%), myalgia (46%), nausea
(38%), headache (35%), and vomiting (35%), accompanied by abnormalities of thrombocytopenia
(35%), leukopenia (54%), and impaired liver (35%) and kidney (8%) function. A
serosurvey of domestic animals detected seropositivity in goats (3 of 168 [2%])
and dogs (4 of 79 [5%]),” the letter reads.
The researchers said there is no evidence so far that Langya
virus can transmit from human to human.
“There was no close contact or common exposure history among
the patients, which suggests that the infection in the human population may be
sporadic. Contact tracing of 9 patients with 15 close-contact family members
revealed no close-contact LayV transmission, but our sample size was too small
to determine the status of human-to-human transmission for LayV,” the letter
reads.
The scientists added that the Langya virus LayV was found in
27% of shrews tested, suggesting the mole-like mammals may be “natural
reservoirs” for the virus.
According to the BBC, Wang Linfa, one of the researchers,
said the cases of Langya virus found so far have not been fatal or very
serious, so there is “no need to panic”.
He, however, added that there is still a need to be on the
alert as many viruses that exist in nature have unpredictable results when they
infect humans.
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