UK health officials warn Britons to avoid contact with animals abroadafter detection of new virus in China.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued this advisory in response to an outbreak of Langya henipa virus infection inChina.
At least 35 people have been infected with the virus, which experts believe was originally transmitted by animals, includingshrews.
Langya Henipavirus, known as 'Langya', belongs to a family ofviruses and is known to kill up to 75% of severe infections.
However, his current Langya infection has not yet been fatal.
A UKHSA spokesperson told his Mirror:
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"All of these individuals have been in contact with animals and the virus was found in wildlife in the area.
"We are reviewing our findings with experts from the Animal and Plant Health Service. We believe the risk to the general UK population is very low." 59}
"We continue to encourage all international travelers to follow good hygiene measures and avoid contact with wild and domestic animals wherever possible."
Chinese doctors sounded alarm after Langya, also known as LayV, confirmed rising infection rates in the country.
Reported symptoms fever, fatigue, myalgia, anorexia, cough, nausea, vomiting,headache.
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine states: “Contact tracing of 9 patients with family members of 15 close contacts revealed no LayV transmission by close contacts.
"But Our sample size was too small to determine the human-to-human transmission of LayV.”
Where did the Langya virus come from?
Chinese study researchers found the virus in 71 of 262 shrews tested after the initial report of infection. 122} Langya belongs to the same virus family known as Nipah and, like Covid, spreads via respiratory droplets.
This virus has been listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the viruses most likely to cause the next pandemic.
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