As nations continue to contain the twin-threats of COVID 19 and monkeypox, there is another zoonotic virus that has made headlines in China. This new animal-derived Henipavirus, or Langya Henipavirus, has infected 35 people in the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Henan.
The state-owned Global Times said that the Langya Henipaviruses were found in throat swab samples of febrile patients in eastern China.
The infected individuals have shown a wide range of symptoms including fever, fatigue, cough, anorexia, myalgia, and nausea. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Henipaviruses.
There are 35 cases of the Langya Henipaviruses and 26 have shown symptoms of a fever, irritability, cough, anorexia, myalgia, nausea, headache and vomiting. According to Taipei Times, some infected showed a decrease in white blood cells, low platelet count, liver failure and kidney failure.
According to the report, Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang said human-to-human transmission of the virus is not yet reported. He said that the 35 infected individuals did not have close contact with each other or had a common exposure history. There was no viral transmission among close contacts, according to contact tracing. The CDC hasn't ruled out the possibility of human-to-human transmission.
The report said that as the virus is new, Taiwan s laboratories will need to establish a standardised nucleic acid testing method to monitor human infections.
The cases have not been very serious or fatal. Wang Linfa, a professor in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, asked people not to panic but to stay alert as many viruses that exist in nature have unpredictable results when they infect humans.