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A , has now infected 35 people in China. The virus is thought to have come from animals and causes fever, fatigue and a cough. So far, there is no indication that the virus is spreading from person to person.

Dr Xiang Liu, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at Griffith University, said LayV is closely related to Hendra virus and the Nipah virus, which are endemic to Southeast Asia.

Though the estimated fatality rate of Nipah virus is at 40% to 75%, no death has so far been associated with LayV infection, Liu said. 鈥淎s Hendra virus and Nipah virus are both zoonotic viruses transmitted through bats and rodents, the LayV was thought to be transmitted from animals to humans.

鈥淪hrews have been suggested to be the natural reservoir for LayV. Notably, shrews are widely distributed in eastern and northeast China, some of which live in close proximity to humans.鈥�

Sanjaya Senanayake, a specialist in infectious diseases and Associate Professor of Medicine at The Australian National University said the shrew may be the natural reservoir of LayV but some domestic animals were found to be infected too.

鈥淩egarding this infection, it is still early days but there are some reassuring signs, namely that there haven鈥檛 been deaths or many serious illnesses from it, that there don鈥檛 seem to have been many cases (the earliest case seems to have been 2018) and that person-to person-transmission hasn鈥檛 been found (unlike Monkeypox and COVID-19),鈥� Senanayake said.

Liu said there was an outbreak of a henipavirus, Mojiang henipavirus, in southern China in 2012, but it is still unknown if there is a link between the outbreak of Mojiang henipavirus and the current LayV. 鈥淢ore studies regarding LayV transmission, pathology and specific treatment are needed,鈥� Liu said.

The LayV patients were mainly from Shandong and Henan provinces in eastern China, said Liu. 鈥淏ased on the 35 clinical patients, no clear evidence has been found for human-to-human transmission, although ongoing monitoring is suggested as the transmission pattern of the virus could be altered by adaptive mutations.鈥�

Senanayake said the announcement of another new infection is not surprising. 鈥淥ver the last five decades, there have been around 50 new infections described. The vast majority, like LayV, Monkeypox and COVID-19, are viruses that have jumped from the animal to the human world.

鈥淭he reason to be vigilant about this virus though is that it is a henipavirus, which comes from the same family as Hendra and Nipah, both of which have caused deaths in humans. Nipah has also been associated with person-to-person transmission.鈥�

Dr Nick Fountain-Jones, who is a Research Associate at the University of Tasmania, said the latest findings show how incredibly important viral surveillance is. 鈥淭his group of viruses pose a constant and real threat to humans and livestock, and viruses like LayV need to be monitored carefully. Early detection, identification of potential reservoir hosts and contact tracing as was done in this study are crucial steps to prevent the next pandemic.

鈥淯nfortunately, just because we are still experiencing the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic does not mean another isn鈥檛 around the corner. More funding for research, surveillance and projects such as the are crucial for helping prevent future pandemics.鈥�

Image credit: iStock.com/SyhinStas