New ‘Langya’ virus hits China as 35 people found infected: How deadly is it? - Hindustan Times

Even as Covid-19 has not completely been wiped out and the new monkeypox outbreak has raised concerns, a new type of animal-derived virus has been reported in China.

The Henipavirus - also known as ‘Langya’ henipavirus (LayV) - has so far infected 35 people in eastern China's Henan and Shandong provinces, the country's official media reported on Tuesday.

The Langya virus was found in the throat samples from febrile patients in the aforementioned provinces.

The virus hails from a family of viruses known to kill up to three quarters of human beings in case of severe infection.

What is known about the virus.

A study published earlier revealed that the Langya virus was first spotted in human beings in 2019, with majority of the recent cases this year.

In the research led by the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, researchers stated that no infections of Langya virus were found during the first year of pandemic between January and July 2020, with they pausing work to combat the Covid-19 spread.

However, 11 more Langya virus cases were found from July 2020 onwards.

After tracking the symptoms of the virus in the patients, researchers found that the most common one was fever.

Understanding the severity of Langya virus.