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]