All you need to know about the new Langya Henipavirus reported in China

• A total of 35 Langya Henipavirus cases have been reported in China.
• This zoonotic virus can spread from animals to humans and can cause renal and liver failure, according to media reports.
• Currently, there is no vaccine available for the Langya Henipavirus.

Almost after three years of Covid, a new virus named Henipavirus has been detected in China. A total of 35 cases have been reported in the country’s two eastern provinces. The virus is also called as Langya Henipavirus or the LayV.

This zoonotic virus can spread from animals to humans and can cause renal and liver failure, according to media reports. It is a part of genus Henipavirus, which has a single-stranded RNA genome and belongs to the same family as the Nipah virus.

What is the Langya Henipavirus?

The Langya Henipavirus is a bat-borne zoonotic virus which can easily spread from animals to humans. It has been detected in 2% of domestic goats and 5% of domestic dogs, reportedly.

The virus has also been found in over 200 shrews, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

A report by Taiwan Taipei revealed that around 26 out of 35 people were infected with the Langya virus but no other pathogens were found in their bodies. It is not a newly detcted virus as it was first first reported in 2018 but was officially detected last week.

According to the study A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 4, highlighted that this virus is ‘phylogenetically distinct Henipavirus’.

Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Mojiang and the Ghanaian bat virus — are some of the types of Henipaviruses which have been reported before this one.

Researchers have also said that Langya virus holds a biosafety level 4 in the virus classification with a 40-75% fatality rate.

CDC deputy director-general Chuang Jen-hsiang said human-to-human transmission of the virus had not been reported but they were yet to determine whether it could be transmitted among humans, according to news agency ANI.

Symptoms of Henipavirus

These are some of the common symptoms that were seen in the 26 patients — fever, fatigue, a cough, loss of appetite, muscle pain, nausea, headache, and vomiting. Decrease in white blood cells. Low platelet count, liver failure, and kidney failure were also noted in the patients, as per a report by DNA.

Currently, there is no vaccine available for this virus in the market.

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