Highlights –
- Three years ago, sars-covid-19 originated in China. And just last week, another virus surfaced Langya Virus.
- In the last four years, 35 people have been infected with Langya Virus in Shandong and Henan.
- Zoonosis is a process where a virus jumps from animal to human.
What is Langya Virus?
Langya Virus or LayV is the new type of Henipavirus and is also classified, as a biosafety level 4 (BSL4) pathogen. They may cause severe illness in both humans and animals. There are no licensed drugs or vaccines meant for humans.
Langya Virus is a virus that originated in China. This newly discovered virus is “phylogenetically distinct Henipavirus”, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. There are different types of Henipavirus, and some of those are fatal, such as Hendra and Nipah. This particular virus (langya) is known to cause fever.
Virus Expert Leo Poon, professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, said, “We are hugely underestimating the number of these zoonotic cases in the world, and this is just the tip of the iceberg”.
The origin:
December 2018: In Qingdao city, Shandong Province, a middle-aged farmer went for treatment at the hospital, showing symptoms including fever, headache, cough, and nausea.
A few more patients came in after being in contact with animals. After the examination of her samples, the results revealed something related to both Nipah and Hendra, but it was highly fatal.
And over the next 30-plus months, 35 people were screened for the same symptoms. Nine of those patients were affected by influenza. Some patients had severe symptoms such as pneumonia or abnormalities, but these symptoms were far from those found in Hendra or Nipah.
Wild animals were tested and confirmed that the infection was across two shrew species.
Hendra Virus was discovered in Australia in 1994, and it affects horses and humans. And the Nipah Virus was identified in 1999 and has caused outbreaks in southeast Asia.
Hendra was the cause of the death of 14 horses and their trainer Vic Rail. Seven other cases were reported in Australia.
Nipah caused severe infections, and the severity of these infections could range from very mild to fatal encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
Common Symptoms:
Fever, fatigue, cough, loss of appetite, muscle ache, and pneumonia.
How did it spread?
LayV comes under the category of zoonotic RNA. According to WHO (World Health Organization), zoonoses are animal diseases that can transmit to humans.
Is LayV fatal?
Researchers have mentioned that there is no evidence that LayV is spreading between people or that this caused a local outbreak.
Nipah and Hendra are around 40% – 70% fatal, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
LayV might also be related to the Mojiang virus.
Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that it would implement genome sequencing and surveillance measures soon.
The researchers used a modern technique called, ‘metagenomic analysis’ to find this virus. Then they sequence the genetic material, discard the ‘known’ sequences and look for ‘unknown’ sequences.
There is no indication as of now if this virus can spread from human to human.
