Deadly Chinese Langya Virus Outbreak

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China sounds alarm as 35 people fall ill with 'newly identified' Langya virus that is thought to have jumped from shrews

A new virus that may have been passed on from a shrew has been spotted in 35 people in China. The Langya virus belongs to a family of pathogens that are known to kill up to 75 per cent of humans.

Doctors have raised the alarm over a brand new virus that has infected dozens of people in China. 'Langya' henipavirus — or LayV — was detected in 35 people in the country's eastern Henan and Shandong provinces.

It belongs to a family of viruses that are known to kill up to three quarters of humans in severe cases. None of the new cases have resulted in death and most are mild, with patients experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The novel virus is thought to have been passed on by shrews — small mammals from the same family as hedgehogs and moles. A study published last revealed the virus was first detected in humans in 2019, with the most recent cases this year.

Chinese experts investigating the virus believe human cases are 'sporadic'. They are still trying to work out if it can spread from person to person. Researchers led by the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology published their findings on the virus, also known as LayV, in a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

They spotted the first case before January 2019 in Shandong, before a cluster of 14 cases were found over the following year in both provinces. No infections were found during the first year of the pandemic in January to July in 2020, with researchers pausing work to prevent the spread of Covid. But 11 more were found from that month onwards.

Researchers tracked symptoms in patients to see how badly people were affected by the virus. The most common symptom suffered by Langya patients was fever, with all people infected coming down with a temperature. It was followed by fatigue (54 per cent), cough (50 percent), loss of appetite (50 per cent), muscle aches (46 per cent) and feeling queasy (38 per cent). Around 35 per cent suffered liver problems while 8 per cent saw a fall in kidney function.

They also tracked the virus in animal populations to see whether it was being spread by domestic and wild animals, or if human-to-human transmission may have been to blame.

Chinese researchers found the virus in 71 of 262 shrews — a small mole-like mammal — surveyed in the two Chinese provinces where the outbreak started. Alongside shrews, the virus was also spotted in dogs (5 per cent) and goats (2 per cent).


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The Zoonotic Langya Virus: Everything You Need to Know About the New Contagion That Has Infected 35 People in China

What is the Zoonotic Langya Virus?

The Zoonotic Langya virus, also known as LayV, is a novel henipavirus that mostly spreads from animal to animal. However, after 35 human infections were identified in China, health authorities are now concerned about its human-associated dissemination.

Meanwhile, the results of 25 wild animal species tests revealed that a small insectivorous mammal called a shrew, which looks like a mouse, could be the natural host of the Langya henipavirus.

According to the CDC official, the virus was found in roughly 27% of the tested shrew subjects.This occurs at a time when China is battling to put an end to occasional coronavirus outbreaks, which started in Hebei earlier this year.

Beijing declared a number of strict lockdowns in accordance with the zero-COVID Policy, forcing 11 million residents of the province to stay inside.

Eventually, Shanghai reported a new escalation in cases, which compelled Beijing to put severe restrictions on citizens.

Following a COVID outbreak, the Xi Jinping-led Chinese authorities imposed restrictions on the beach city of Sanya on Monday, detaining at least 80,000 tourists.

Zoonotic Langya Virus symptoms

Out of the 35 individuals, 26 had only the Langya virus as their only infection. The 26 infected people showed symptoms like body aches, fever, coughing, and colds, as well as a decrease in white blood cells.

The specialists indicated that the virus might cause a decline in platelet count, more liver and kidney damage, and ultimately death.

People are urged by experts to “pay close attention” to LayV updates

Taiwanese health experts have also advised people to take steps to avoid community spread, even if no cases of human-to-human transmission have occurred yet. The CDC has not yet determined whether the aforementioned virus can spread from person to person.

Chuang Jen-Hsiang, the deputy director general of the Taiwan CDC, told Taipei News that locals need to “pay close attention” to further information on the virus.

Domestic animals test positive for Zoonotic Langya virus

Many domestic and wild animals tested positive for the LayV virus, according to a serological study done by the Taiwan CDC. At least 25 different kinds of wild animals, 2% of tested goats, and 5% of tested canines all tested positive for the new henipavirus strain.

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