New common-to-zoo virus discovered in China… fatality rate 70

A new zoonotic virus has been discovered in eastern China that has been transmitted to humans after being infected with animals.

According to the Washington Post (WP) in the United States and the Global Times, the state-run English newspaper in China on the 10th (local time), an international team of scientists conducted a study published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), 35 patient samples from eastern China. reported that they found Langya henipavirus in

According to the report, Professor Liu Wei and Fang Lichuan of the Institute of Microbial Epidemiology of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, and Professor Wang Lin-pa of the National University of Singapore Medical School, etc. Henipavirus was first discovered.

Henipavirus, a zoonotic virus that spreads to both humans and animals, is known to have first appeared in a pig farm in Nipa, Malaysia in 1998. In Malaysia at the time, 265 people were infected and 105 died in one year.

Henipavirus infection is known to cause symptoms such as fever, lethargy, cough, anorexia, muscle pain, and nausea.

According to the report, the langyavirus needs to be further confirmed, but the primary host of the henipavirus first discovered in Malaysia is the Angola fruit bat, which mainly eats fruits.

It is known that the virus in the saliva on fruits left behind by Angola fruit bats was transmitted to humans through secondary hosts such as pigs and chickens. No cases of human-to-human transmission have been found.

It is known that the primary host of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is also highly likely to be a bat.

Although henipavirus is not contagious, it is known to be fatal, with a fatality rate of up to 70%.

However, the research team said, “So far, the cases of infection have not been fatal or very serious. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid. However, you need to be vigilant.”

Kim Hyun-deok, reporter at Hankyung.com [email protected]

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