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In tests in animals, the Langya henipavirus was mainly detected in shrews (icon image)
Photo: Rudmer Zwerver / iStockphoto / Getty Images
In China, 35 people have contracted a newly detected henipa virus.
In the provinces of Shangdong and Henan, the pathogens named Langya henipavirus (LayV) mainly affected farmers who had previously been in close contact with animals.
This was reported by a team of researchers from China, Singapore and Australia in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The infections were therefore discovered between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2021.
Of the 35 affected, 26 people were only infected with LayV.
These patients suffered from symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough and muscle pain.
In some of the patients, there were indications of liver and kidney damage.
The researchers did not report any deaths.
There was no evidence of direct human-to-human transmission.
The 35 patients in China had no close contact with each other, said Chuang Jen-hsiang from the Taiwanese health authority CDC, according to the Taipei Times.
The contact tracing did not show any transmission to family members or close contacts.
In tests in animals, the virus was mainly discovered in shrews, as the researchers led by Wei Liu from the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology in Beijing report.
The virus is probably of animal origin and appears only sporadically in humans.
However, further studies are necessary to better understand the pathogen and the human diseases associated with it.
mar/dpa
