Langya virus belongs to a family of pathogenic microorganisms and, according to studies, is capable of leading to the death of up to 75% of people who become seriously ill
A new virus, believed to be transmitted to humans from animals, has been identified in China, according to reports in the international press. The virus Langya it has common characteristics with the coronavirus, in terms of symptoms and mode of initial transmission.
According to what has become known, 35 people tested positive for the Langya virus in the last four years, while it is considered possible that the transmission was made by a small mammal, called a fly.
Langya virus belongs to a family of pathogenic microorganisms and, according to studies, is capable of leading to the death of up to 75% of people who become seriously ill.
None of the people who have tested positive for the virus in China have died so far, although the patients have flu-like symptoms, as well as those of the coronavirus: fever, fatigue, cough, headache and vomiting. Some also experienced a decrease in white blood cells, low platelet counts, liver and kidney failure, and were tested because they had a fever.
Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning about the virus detected in Henan and Shandong provinces in southeastern China. The concern lies in the fact that Langya has never been detected in humans before and experts believe it was transmitted from other animals.
Chinese researchers have detected the virus in 71 of 262 flies they have examined – a small mouse-like mammal – in the two Chinese provinces where the new outbreak began. In fact, they published their findings about the virus, also known as LayV, in a study at New England Journal of Medicine.
In this particular study it is stated that “there was no close contact or shared history of exposure between the patients, which suggests that infection in the human population may be sporadic”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked it as one of the viruses most likely to cause the next pandemic.
There is currently no approved vaccine for humans, but at least eight are currently being tested in animals, including one made by the University of Oxford.
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