A close relative of the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses has been detected in North America for the first time — specifically, in the U.S. state of Alabama.
The pathogen, which scientists have named Camp Hill virus, was detected in four northern short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda). The animals were caught in 2021 near a town of the same name in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. After being captured for a study, the animals had been dissected and their organs frozen for later analyses; it was in those analyses that the virus was discovered.
