What is Langya Virus found in China, is it deadly?

New virus ‘Langya’ found in China’s Shandong and Henan Provinces. China has reported 35 cases of a novel Langya henipavirus which spreads from animals to humans. This virus is deadly, it can cause kidney and liver failure.

Centers for Disease Control said they identified 35 patients with acute Langya henipavirus infection in Shandong and Henan provinces. 26 of them were infected with the Langya virus only, with no other pathogens found in their bodies.

A serological survey of domestic animals revealed that 2% of goats and 5% of tested dogs were found positive for this virus. Humans would likely have gotten infected through them.

Symptoms of Langya Virus

• fever, fatigue, a cough, loss of appetite, muscle pain, nausea, headache, and vomiting.
• drop in white blood cells, low platelet count and liver and kidney failures.

However, Human to Human transmission of this disease has not been confirmed yet.

35 patients did not have close contact with each other or a common exposure history. Contact tracing showed no viral transmission among close contacts and family, suggesting that human infections might be sporadic.

This is a zoonotic disease. According to the WHO zoonotic disease is an infection that has jumped from a animals to humans. It can be bacterial, viral or parasitic, or may involve unconventional agents and can spread to humans through direct contact or food, water or the environment.

Currently world is in the grip of zoonotic diseases like Nipah, Corona and now this new one Langya.

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