Patients infected with the newly-discovered Langya virus developed a number of symptoms which are potentially fatal, according to one of the scientists who found it.
The Langya Henipavirus known as “Langya” is the newest member of a virus family known to kill in 75 per cent of severe cases.
The alarm was first raised by a team of Chinese, Australian and Singaporean doctors after Langya, also known as LayV, was detected in 35 patients in two of China's eastern provinces.
The virus - which was detected in people with a history of animal contact - is believed to have been originally transmitted to humans through creatures like the shrew.
Speaking exclusively with The Mirror, Dr Zhu Feng - a researcher involved in its discovery - explained how some patients developed severe symptoms like pneumonia.
"All of them had a fever (that’s why they went to the hospital), most of them had cough or fatigue, but only a few displayed severe symptoms like pneumonia and low platelet counts, but all recovered," said Dr Feng, a Research Fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School's Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme.
Dr Feng said Langya is not as deadly as Hendranipavirus or Nipah, because none of those infected died or needed to be admitted to intensive care.
Researchers are still in the dark as to the nature of the virus, and have called for robust testing and studies to figure out exactly how much of a threat it really is.
Dr Feng added: "We don’t know why and how the transmission of this virus among animals and from animals to humans but we will do the follow-up and also start serological surveys [the study of bodily fluids] in larger areas and beyond China.
"Very similar henipaviruses exist in rodents and shrews from Yunnan to South Korea so we need to watch out if these viruses could also transmit from animals to humans.
"So far there is no need to panic as it is not a severe ongoing outbreak but still, as the case number is limited, we need to have continuous and active genomic and serological surveillance in a transparent and internationally collaborative way."
Researchers found the virus in 71 of 262 shrews tested after initial infection reports.
Alongside shrews, the virus was also found in dogs and goats.
Langya is from the same family of viruses known as Nipah, which - similar to Covid - spreads through respiratory droplets.
The virus has been listed as one of the viruses most likely to cause the next pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Langya was discovered in eastern China during surveillance testing of patients who had fever along with a recent history of animal exposure.
Dr Feng's study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, further analysed the virus after it was identified and isolated from throat swab samples.
The research involved 26 patients to identify the main accompanying symptoms associated with the infection.
The most reported symptom came up as fever with all 26 presenting this symptom; second was fatigue (54 per cent), and cough (50 per cent) followed by nausea (38 per cent).
It also found of the total 26, "35 per cent complained of headache and vomiting”.
The virus was found to greatly affect a person’s disease-fighting capabilities.
