After the spread of COVID-19, a polio scare, monkeypox, and other illnesses being talked about, Americans are concerned over the latest virus: the langya virus, found in China.
35 people in China have already come down with this new virus.
It is so early in the discovery that scientists are not sure if it is deadly or if it can spread from person to person, according to the New York Post.
What is the langya virus located in China?
The langya virus is a henipavirus, and shortened is referred to as LayV.
This virus is among a family of viruses which are known to infect humans and become fatal.
This was written and published after being peer reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The family of viruses includes the Nipah virus.
This strain comes from pigs and kills 75% of those who catch it.
For the langya virus, nobody has died yet.
Out of all 35, 26 were only ill with LayV and not other illnesses.
Everyone suffered fevers and 50% had a cough and fatigue.
Over half of the 35 cases saw a decrease in white blood cells that fight disease.
Over one third saw lowered liver function, and 8% saw poor kidney function.
How are experts finding where the langya virus came from?
25 species of wild animals were tested in the surrounding areas for where people fell ill.
27% of tested animals showed that small, furry animals that look like moles (shrews) could be where the langya virus came from.
Viruses from this family have been known to spread person to person, but it’s too early to tell if this one can or if it’s just animal to person.
Researchers think this is probably a sporadic infection, due to everyone infected not coming in contact with each other beforehand.
According to Rochester First, contact tracing was done on 9 patients with 15 close contact family members and there was no close contact spread.
There are only two other viruses in the family known to experts which are the Hendra virus and the Nipah virus.
Hendra can be contracted through close contact with horses like their body tissue or fluids.
Horses only get the virus through bat urine.
Humans can’t get the virus from bats and bats cannot spread it to humans.
Nipah comes from infected bats or pigs and can be spread between humans through close contact.
This means friends or family who take care of someone with the illness can catch the virus.
Both of these viruses can cause fever, headache, and dizziness.
Symptoms may worsen and can cause confusion, abnormal reflexes, seizures, and a coma.
Neither of these viruses have ever been reported in the United States.
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