Langya virus infects 35 people in China: Know the signs and symptoms of this novel virus

A virus known as "langya virus" or LayV has been found in China. This virus, which is said to be a novel one, has infected 35 people so far, state-run media, Global Times reported.

Citing a research article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by scientists from China and Singapore, the media report says, "A new type of animal-derived Henipavirus (also named Langya henipavirus, LayV) that can infect humans has been found in East China's Shandong Province and Central China's Henan Province, and has so far infected 35 people in the two provinces."

The research article titled "A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China" says, "In this report, investigators in China identified a new henipavirus associated with a febrile human illness. This virus was also found in shrews."

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Going through the reports which have cited the main research article, it is known that this new Henipavirus was found in the throat swab samples from patients showing feverish symptoms in eastern China. These patients had a history of contact with animals in recent times.

As per a Guardian report, the virus was first detected in the north-eastern provinces of Shandong and Henan in late 2018, but it has been formally identified now.

Out of a total of 262 shrews, which are small mole-like mammals, the virus was found in a quarter of them, thus hinting that these animals may be the natural host of the virus. The virus was also detected in 2% of domestic goats and 5% of dogs, the report says.

It is also closely related to Mojiang virus, a novel virus found in 2012 in miners working in a mine at Mojiang Hani Autonomous County in Southern China.

Henipavirus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The genus Henipavirus is represented by three known virus species Hendra virus (HeV), Nipah virus (NiV) and CedPV (CedPV). These enveloped, single-stranded negative-sense RNA viruses are considered to be highly virulent.

The first henipaviruses, Hendra virus (HeV), and Nipah virus (NiV) were pathogenic zoonoses that emerged in the mid to late 1990s causing serious disease outbreaks in livestock and humans.

As per the study published in the NEJM, the infected people had the following symptoms:

• fever
• fatigue
• cough
• anorexia
• myalgia
• nausea
• muscle ache

"Further investigation found that 26 out of 35 cases of Langya henipavirus infection in Shandong and Henan provinces have developed clinical symptoms such as fever, irritability, cough, anorexia, myalgia, nausea, headache and vomiting," the media report says.

Reports also say that henipavirus infection can lower white blood cell counts in infected patients, and also reduce liver and kidney function.

"The mortality rate of human infection varies between 50 and 100%, making them one of the most deadly viruses known to infect humans," says a July 2022 study published in Current Opinion in Virology journal.

"Its use of highly conserved cell surface molecules (ephrin) as entry receptors and its highly effective replication and fusion strategies are believed to be important characteristics responsible for its high pathogenicity," the study explains on the pathogenicity of the virus.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, the case fatality rate of this virus is estimated at 40% to 75%.

While the preliminary study says it has been transmitted from animals, it is still not clear how it is transmitted between human beings. So far the virus has been found in shrews, goats and dogs.

However, so far no serious cases have come to fore. 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 also a researcher in the study has told the media.

The Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has only confirmed 35 infections so far, but no serious ill or death.