New Langya virus identified in China

• A new virus, Langya henipavirus (LayV), is suspected to have caused infections in 35 people in China’s Shandong and Henan provinces.

• The virus was identified through sentinel surveillance of febrile cases with a history of recent animal exposure in eastern China. Between April 2018 and August 2021, as many as 35 patients with acute LayV infection were detected in the Shandong and Henan provinces of China. 

• The following symptoms were reported: fever, fatigue, cough, anorexia, myalgia, nausea, headache and vomiting.

• The majority of the cases for which information about occupation is available were farmers.

• To determine the potential animal origin of the virus, the researchers tested goats, dogs, pigs and cattle living in the villages of infected patients for antibodies against LayV, and took tissue and urine samples from 25 species of wild small animals to look for the presence of LayV RNA. They found LayV antibodies in a handful of goats and dogs, and identified LayV viral RNA in 27 per cent of the 262 sampled shrews. This suggested that shrews are a reservoir for the virus, passing LayV between themselves. Viral RNA was detected in three rodent and two shrew species, predominantly in Crocidura lasiura shrews.

• The virus is closely related to two other henipaviruses known to infect people — Hendra virus and Nipah virus.

• Hendra virus was first reported in Queensland in 1994, when it caused the deaths of 14 horses and the trainer Vic Rail. Many outbreaks in horses have been reported in Queensland and northern New South Wales since, and are generally thought to be due to spillover infections from flying foxes. In total, seven human cases of Hendra virus have been reported in Australia (mostly veterinarians working with sick horses), including four deaths. 

• Nipah virus is more significant globally, with outbreaks frequently reported in Bangladesh.

• There is currently no vaccine or treatment for henipavirus and the only treatment is supportive care to manage complications.

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