It is a henipa virus, an RNA virus such as the dangerous Nipah virus and Hendra virus. These are zoonotic infections that jump from an animal reservoir to humans. So far, 35 people in China have been infected with the Langya virus. They developed flu-like symptoms, such as fever (100 percent of patients), fatigue (54 percent), cough (50 percent), loss of appetite (50 percent), muscle aches (46 percent), nausea (38 percent), headache (35 percent) and vomiting (35 percent). The virus could also cause impaired kidney and liver function.
No fatalities
According to virologist Marc Van Ranst, the transmission happened via shrews. He stressed on Twitter that there are currently no fatal cases of Langya infection and no human-to-human transmission has been observed. Whether the virus is serious remains to be seen. “35 cases is little. And we have no idea yet about asymptomatic infections,” says Van Ranst.