Explained: What is the new zoonotic virus that has hit China

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New
Delhi,
Aug
10:
A
new
type
of
animal-derived
Henipavirus
has
so
far
infected
people
in
Shandong
and
Henan
provinces
of
China,
official
media
here
reported
on
Tuesday.

The
new
type
of
Henipavirus
(also
named
Langya
henipavirus,
LayV)
was
found
in
throat
swab
samples
from
febrile
patients
in
eastern
China,
state-run
Global
Times
quoted
media
reports.

Scholars
who
participated
in
the
study
pointed
out
that
this
newly
discovered
Henipavirus,
which
may
have
come
from
animals,
is
associated
with
some
febrile
cases,
and
the
infected
people
have
symptoms
including
fever,
fatigue,
cough,
anorexia,
myalgia,
and
nausea.

New
Langya
virus
detected
in
China:
How
deadly
is
it

There
is
currently
no
vaccine
or
treatment
for
Henipavirus
and
the
only
treatment
is
supportive
care
to
manage
complications,
a
PTI
report
said.

The
cases
of
Langya
henipavirus
so
far
have
not
been
fatal
or
very
serious,
so
there
is
no
need
for
panic,
Wang
Linfa,
a
Professor
in
the
Programme
in
Emerging
Infectious
Diseases
at
Duke-NUS
Medical
School
who
was
involved
in
the
study
said,
adding
that
it
is
still
a
cause
for
alert
as
many
viruses
that
exist
in
nature
have
unpredictable
results
when
they
infect
humans.

Further
investigation
found
that
26
out
of
35
cases
of
Langya
Henipavirus
infection
in
Shandong
and
Henan
provinces
have
developed
clinical
symptoms
such
as
fever,
irritability,
cough,
anorexia,
myalgia,
nausea,
headache
and
vomiting,
the
report
said.