New Delhi: Amidst the fear of monkeypox that has been looming in throughout the world, a new virus has come into fruition from China. Henipavirus (also named Langya Henipavirus, LayV) was detected in the China’s Shadong and Henan Province.

According to New England Journal of Medicine, the virus so far has already infected 35 people. The article in the journal has been published by scientists of China and Singapore.

According to media reports the new type of Henipavirus was detected in throat swab samples from febrile patients. The cases were detected in Eastern China. These people were reportedly in close contact with animals. The people infected with the virus were showing symptoms like fever, fatigue, nausea, cough, myalgia, and anorexia. The scholars who were the part of the study confirmed the same.

Out of the 35 infected people 26 of them were found to have similar symptoms. These include fever, cough, anorexia, myalgia, irritability, nausea, headache, and vomiting.

What is Henipavirus?

The Henipahvirus infection is a zoonotic disease that can spread from person to person, through contaminated food, or directly from animal to human. It can cause a variety of ailments in infected individuals, including asymptomatic (subclinical) infection, acute respiratory sickness, and deadly encephalitis. Additionally, the virus can cause serious illness in pigs and other animals, costing producers a great deal of money.

Is Nipah, Hendra and Henipavirus same?

Nipah (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are emerging zoonotic pathogens of the family Paramyxoviridae and are classified in the genus Henipavirus. NiV and HeV both cause severe and often fatal respiratory disease and/or encephalitis in animals and humans.

How does Henipavirus infect?

Although there have only been a few outbreaks of the Nipah virus in Asia, it affects a wide variety of animals and can kill or make people severely ill.

The majority of human infections during the first known outbreak in Malaysia, which also affected Singapore, happened as a direct result of coming into touch with sick pigs or their contaminated tissues. Unprotected contact with the tissue of a sick animal or unprotected exposure to the pigs’ fluids are the two most likely routes of transmission.

Consumption of fruits or fruit products (such raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats was the most likely cause of infection in following outbreaks in Bangladesh and India.

Human-to-human transmission of Nipah virus has also been reported among family and care givers of infected patients.