New Virus Alert in China! What are the Symptoms of Langya Virus, How Is It Transmitted?

Scientists are following a new virus thought to be transmitted from animal to human in eastern China and has been detected in at least 35 people so far.

Langya (LayV) henipavirus was detected in 35 people in Shantung and Henan provinces of China. Symptoms of the virus have been reported to include fever, fatigue, and cough. 35 people are thought to have contracted the virus from animals. Experts say that for now there is no evidence that the virus spreads between humans.

It is reported that the virus, about which the first findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is mostly seen in shrews.

Speaking to the Chinese state news agency Global Times, Wang Linfa, a researcher at Duke-NUS School of Medicine in Singapore, said that there is no indication that the virus has caused death or serious illness so far, "there is no cause for panic."

However, Wang stressed that viruses found in nature can lead to unpredictable results when they first infect humans, and therefore care should be taken.

Experts shared that the virus was detected in 27 percent of shrews tested, 5 percent of dogs and 2 percent of goats.

The Taiwan Center for Disease Control said on Sunday that it is closely monitoring the LayV virus.

What are the Symptoms of Langya Virus, How Is It Transmitted?

Langya virus (LayV) is known as a virus from the henipavirus family. Nipah and Hendra viruses, which are known to be quite lethal, also come from this family. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Langya virus is much more dangerous than Kovid-19 and has a lethal effect of 40 to 75 percent. According to the research of scientists, the effects of the said virus are quite similar to the effects of Kovid-19. Langya virus shows its effects as fever, fatigue, cough, loss of appetite, headache, vomiting and muscle aches. In some cases, blood cell abnormalities and signs of liver and kidney damage were seen. The possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus, which is transmitted from animal to human, is being investigated.