Scientists described a new species of virus from infections recorded between 2018 and 2021; pathogen is part of a genus of highly lethal viruses.
A new virus like that henipavirus, a group known to have already caused outbreaks of highly lethal infections in humans, was revealed by scientists on Thursday (4/8). According to the research team, the virus called Langya henipavirus (LayV) caused infections in at least 35 people in China between 2018 and 2021.
The 35 cases have been detected and analyzed over the years, but have only now been described in The New England Journal of Medicine. Of these, 26 cases were analyzed in detail, revealing that 100% of patients had fever and, in some cases, other symptoms such as fatigue (54%), cough (50%), headache (35%), vomiting. (35%). There were also some abnormalities in the functioning of the liver (in 35% of patients) and kidneys (8%). There is no information on any deaths.
According to the researchers, there are no signs of LayV transmission in person-to-person contact. The source of the infection is likely to be animal: Scientists say there is evidence that the shrew is a natural reservoir of the Langya, but this has yet to be confirmed with further studies. Experts assure that the detection of the new virus is far from signifying a new pandemic.
But the discovery of such a virus henipavirus concern that other pathogens in this group have already caused serious outbreaks and infections in Asia and Oceania, mainly LayV’s “cousins” called Hendra henipavirus (HeV) and Nipah henipavirus (NiV). Hendra henipavirus (HeV) infection is rare, but the death rate reaches 57%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In the Nipah henipavirus (NiV) outbreaks reported between 1998 and 2018, the death rate ranged from 40 to 70 percent of infections. Both cause respiratory and neurological problems.
It is difficult to compare these data with the mortality of the coronavirus that causes the current pandemic, due to the different methodologies and numerical differences by country and by period. However, it is possible to say that the lethality of the Hendra and Nipah viruses was significantly greater in the outbreaks that occurred compared to the coronavirus in the current pandemic.
Virologist Jansen de Araujo, professor and researcher at the Laboratory for Research in Emerging Viruses at the University of São Paulo (USP), points out that, for now, the detection of the Langya virus is far from being a harbinger of a pandemic.
“What has been observed does not characterize a access point (something like a “transmission center”) as it was with the coronavirus – where the virus was found and soon started spreading across the region very quickly, “Araujo says, noting that researchers who identified the Langya’s henipaviruses have tracked cases over a long period.
“The new virus also hasn’t shown efficient person-to-person transmission very quickly. But because it’s a pathogenic (disease-causing) virus, you need to be alert and monitor for new cases.”
A doctor of microbiology from the USP, Araujo also points out that the high lethality of the Hendra and Nipah viruses may have been a brake on their transmissibility.
“Very lethal viruses, such as Ebola, have a small spread, because it ends up killing people faster than it transmits,” he explains. “When you have a virus that causes greater severity, the chance of spreading is reversed.”
The presence of the virus has never been confirmed in Brazil, says the researcher
Araujo is part of the National Network for Virus Surveillance in Wild Animals (Previr) project and has been looking for signs of henipavirus on Brazilian soil. In 2017, he and his colleagues published an article with evidence that the bats found in Brazil may be natural reservoirs of Nipah, but this cannot be confirmed with the evidence gathered. According to the researcher, no cases of Hendra or Nipah infection in humans have ever been confirmed in Brazil.
in the publication of New England Journal of Medicine which revealed the Langya henipavirus, all infected patients were residents of Shandong and Henan provinces. They had no close contact with each other and no history of passing through the same places. The researchers traced contacts between nine patients and their relatives and found no infections that could demonstrate person-to-person transmission.
More than half of the infected people were farmers, which is relevant considering that the virus reached people through some form of contact with animals.
Researchers looked for molecular traces of Langya in domestic and wild animals, and shrews showed the highest detection rate of the virus. Therefore, the researchers say that it could be the natural reservoir of the pathogen, although they acknowledge that in the study they did not fulfill the so-called Koch postulates, in which causality between a pathogen and disease is demonstrated.
For Jansen de Araujo, it would be desirable to analyze in particular samples of giant bats for Langya, as these are known reservoirs of the Hendra and Nipah viruses – the researcher explains that the animals considered “natural reservoirs” are those infected with a virus but without develop a disease. Final hosts, on the other hand, get infected and get sick, as with horses and humans in Hendra infection.
The reported cases of Nipah have occurred through direct contact of people with infected bats and pigs; with the sap or juice of date palms infected with bat droppings; or even in person-to-person contact.
Veterinary surgeon Michele Lunardi, PhD in animal virology at the State University of Londrina (UEL), published with colleagues in 2021 an article reviewing the studies on Henipavirus. According to the authors, “HeV and NiV are highly lethal viruses, with repeated recurrence and the absence of prophylaxis or therapies approved for use in humans.” Notably, NiV has “the ability to cause a devastating pandemic,” the article states.
In an interview with BBC News Brazil, Lunardi points out that scientists who identified the Langya henipavirus did so thanks to routine monitoring of fever cases in China, an action she points to as essential to prevent the spread of this virus. and other viral diseases.
“Febrile patients appear to be treated in selected hospitals in China, and when they report previous contact with animals, samples are collected for metagenomic analysis. These are powerful tools for identifying pathogens,” explains the veterinarian.
“This kind of active surveillance with new (genetic) sequencing tools is extremely important, considering that these infectious agents that are potentially zoonotic, ie that are transmitted from animals to humans, will become new pandemic agents in the future.”
– This text was originally published in https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-62487568
Source: Terra
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