A new Virus that is spreading in China has affected close to three dozen individuals, but experts have warned that it is still too early to say if it is lethal or contagious to humans. Nearly three years after the coronavirus epidemic began in China, the Langya henipavirus, often known as LayV, appears to be leaping from animals there.
In the peer-reviewed study, a multinational team of scientists under Chinese leadership described the Virus as being a member of a family of Virus that “are known to infect people and cause lethal sickness.” This includes the Nipah Virus, which, according to the World Health Organization, is transmitted by pigs and can be fatal to up to 75% of affected people. However, none of the 35 confirmed LayV cases have resulted in fatalities to yet.
In addition, 54% of those who had other “abnormalities” developed leukopenia, which is a drop in the number of disease-fighting white blood cells in the blood. More over one-third of patients also had liver dysfunction, and 8% additionally experienced deteriorating renal functioning. The little, fuzzy creatures “may constitute a natural reservoir of LayV,” the researchers speculated, after testing 25 species of wild animals in the area.
They discovered it in 27% of the examined shrews. Although members of the same Virus family have been known to infect people, the scientists cautioned that there have not yet been enough LayV cases to “establish the status of human-to-human transmission.”
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