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2022 Langya virus outbreak in China

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2018-22 China Langya virus outbreak
DiseaseLangya henipavirus
Virus strainLayV
SourceTransmitted from shrews
LocationChina
First outbreakShandong, China
Date2018 – ongoing?
Confirmed cases35
Deaths
0

A possibly ongoing outbreak of Langya henipavirus (LayV) was reported in China in August 2022, with 35 identified cases spanning from 2018 to August 2022.[1][2] The index case was a 53-year-old female farmer who had been in contact with shrews and presented with a fever, headache, cough and nausea in Qingdao city.[1] The virus was named "Langya" after the hometown of the index patient in Shandong.[3]

The virus does not appear to spread easily from person to person,[3] consistent with the 35 reported cases being apparently independent from one another.[1] In 26 of the 35 human cases reported in China, the only identified infectious agent was LayV; in the LayV-only cases, symptoms appeared such as fever, fatigue, and coughing. No deaths due to LayV had been reported as of August 2022.

LayV infection is a respiratory zoonotic disease which has been shown to be present in goats and dogs, where shrews appear to be a viral reservoir species.[3] LayV is closely related to Hendra virus and Nipah virus, both of which cause respiratory infections that can be fatal, and both of which show low person-to-person transmissibility.[3] The exact method of transmission between animals and from animal to person remains unknown.[3] The closest viral strain match to LayV is Mojiang henipavirus (MojV), discovered in 2012 in rats in southern China and responsible for several fatal respiratory infections.[3]

Initial detection of the virus was made during an infection surveillance study at three hospitals in Eastern China involving patients exhibiting a fever.[3] The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control said they would monitor the virus closely and establish a genome sequencing method to identify the virus.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c McCarthy, Simone (12 August 2022). "New Langya virus found in China could be 'tip of the iceberg' for undiscovered pathogens, researchers say". CNN. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. ^ Pandey, Nikhil, ed. (9 August 2022). "What is Langya, the fresh zoonotic virus outbreak that infected 35 people in China?". WION. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mallapaty, Smriti (25 August 2022). "New Animal Virus That Can Infect People Identified in China" (PDF). Nature. 608 (7924): 656–7. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-02175-z. PMID 35953571. S2CID 251517381.
  4. ^ Lu, Donna (10 August 2022). "Newly identified Langya virus tracked after China reports dozens of cases". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  5. ^ Chen, Chieh-ling; Ken, Chao (8 August 2022). "CDC to monitor novel virus after China infection reports". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 13 August 2022.

Further reading

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