Alert in China: A new virus, Langya, has been detected – Dozens of cases

Dozens of people in China have been infected by a new virus of animal origin, dubbed Langia, scientists have announced, but at this stage they rule out human-to-human transmission.

Langya henipavirus (LayV) causes symptoms in humans such as fever, fatigue, cough, nausea and headaches.

Scientists hypothesize that the fly, a small mammal with a pointed snout, may be the animal that allowed its transmission to humans.

The infections were found in the Chinese provinces of Shandong (east) and Henan (center).

Thirty-five people were infected in China, according to a report published in early August by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The patients, mostly farmers, had neither “close contact” nor “shared exposure” to the pathogen, the study underlines, which makes the case for “sporadic” human infection.

Some developed abnormalities at the blood cell level. In others, liver and kidney functions were impaired, the report states.

Langya was first spotted in 2018.

But this time the virus was officially identified, thanks to a system of tracing acute febrile conditions and previous exposure to animals.

Scientists consider that at this stage it is premature to decide on possible transmission of LayV between humans, given the small number of cases.

According to the researchers from China, Singapore and Australia, who participated in the writing of the report, additional research is needed to better understand the diseases associated with the virus.

So far, no serious or fatal cases of Langya have been recorded, virologist Linfa Wang of the Duke-NUS School of Medicine in Singapore, one of the report’s authors, told the Global Times.