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China Warns of New Virus Transmitted by Shrews
It has been reported that a new virus has emerged in China. The Langya henipavirus – or LayV – virus is believed to be passed on by shrews. Although traces of the infection were first found in 2018, the virus was formally identified by health experts last week.
Langya is a zoonotic RNA virus – jumping from animal to human – a category associated with mortality rates of up to 75%. Other zoonotic viruses include the Hendra and Nipah virus. So far 35 cases have been found in China without any registered death.
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The virus can cause respiratory and mild, flu-like symptoms, with each of those infected experiencing a temperature. Just over half of the confirmed cases reported that they were suffering from fatigue, whilst 46% reported muscle aches. 50% also reported a cough and loss of appetite.
The virus can cause respiratory and mild, flu-like symptoms, with each of those infected experiencing a temperature.
On August 4 researchers described in the New England Journal of Medicine, how LayV is carried by infected shews which might have then passed on the disease to people directly. Other possible forms of transmission include through an intermediate animal.
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology found that a quarter of 262 shrews were carrying the virus, suggesting the small animals “may be a natural reservoir.” Professor Wang Linfa of the Duke-NUS Medical School, who co-authored the paper, told the state-run Global Times that the LayV cases had “not been fatal or very serious” so far and there was “no need for panic.”
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology found that a quarter of 262 shrews were carrying the virus, suggesting the small animals “may be a natural reservoir.”
It remains unclear whether the virus can transmit from human to human. Researchers said: “Contact tracing of nine 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.”
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