Fever + kidney failure! China discovers a new zoonotic virus  

A new infectious virus that can spread from animals to people and cause fatal illnesses has been found in China.

An article published in the medical journal New England Journal of Medicine on August 4 mentioned that a virus research team from China and Singapore discovered a new animal-derived virus that can infect humans in Shandong and Henan, which is named Langya henipavirus (LayV). So far, 35 patients with acute infection have been identified, the majority of whom are farmers with symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, and some with impaired liver and kidney functions.

The research team discovered that the virus is a member of the Paramyxoviridae family and that the Nipah virus, another member of the henipavirus family, is a close relative. The shrew of the oxymuridae family had the highest proportion of the serum of the 25 species of animals tested by the researchers, indicating that it might be the virus's natural host. Nine of the patients' family members and close associates were closely monitored by the researchers, but no evidence of human-to-human transmission has been discovered thus far.

Hendra and Nipah viruses belong to the genus henipavirus in the Paramyxoviridae family and are known to infect humans and cause fatal diseases. However, other related henipaviruses have also been found in bats, rodents, and shrews. During sentinel surveillance of febrile patients with recent animal exposure in eastern China, a phylogenetically distinct henipavirus was identified in throat swabs from patients by metagenomic analysis and subsequent virus isolation—LayV. The LayV genome consists of 18,402 nucleotides, and its genome structure is identical to that of other henipaviruses. 1LayV is most closely related phylogenetically to Mojiang Henipa virus found in southern China.

In a subsequent investigation, 35 patients with acute LayV infection in the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Henan were found, of which 26 had LayV infection. The 26 patients had abnormalities like thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and liver and kidney failure in addition to symptoms like fever, fatigue, cough, anorexia, myalgia, nausea, and vomiting.

Although earlier studies suggested that Henipa virus can be transmitted from person to person, the researchers found no cases or no evidence of significant spatial or temporal clustering of virus haplotypes. There is no history of frequent exposure or close contact between patients, indicating that the infection may be sporadic in nature. The tracing of 9 patients and 15 close family members did not show that LayV was transmitted through close contact.

In order to improve serological detection, the researchers suggested evaluating any potential cross-reactivity between LayV and the Henipa virus discovered in Mojiang because the sample size was too small to determine the human-to-human transmission of LayV.

Although it has not yet been determined whether LayV can cause human-to-human transmission, researchers have found a new virus related to the febrile disease that may originate from animal henipaviruses. This new discovery deserves further research in order to better understand associated human diseases.

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