Langya, new virus from China, 35 infected so far

In China, a  new type of animal-derived Henipavirus has so far infected people in Shandong and Henan provinces, official media reported on Tuesday. 35 new cases have been reported. The novel Langya Henipavirus (LayV) was first detected in the northeastern provinces of Shandong and Henan in 2018 and was officially detected late last week. The virus has reportedly been found in throat swab samples from febrile patients in eastern China. Reports indicate that the early patients of the virus are mainly farmers, who have reported fatigue, cough, loss of appetite, and aches. Others have also shown signs of blood-cell abnormalities and signs of liver and kidney damage. The cases of Langya henipavirus so far have not been fatal or very serious, so there is no need for panic, Wang Linfa, a Professor in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School who was involved in the study said, adding that it is still a cause for alert as many viruses that exist in nature have unpredictable results when they infect humans. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Henipavirus and the only treatment is supportive care to manage complications.

The study adds that Langya’s genome organization is “identical to that of other Henipaviruses”, and that it is closely related to the “Mojiang Henipavirus, which was discovered in southern China”. The types of Henipaviruses that had been identified prior to this included Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Mojiang and the Ghanaian bat virus. According to the US CDC, the Cedar virus, Ghanaian bat virus, and Mojiang virus are not known to cause human disease. But Hendra and Nipah infect humans and can cause fatal illness.