New Delhi: Health experts in US’ Alabama have raised alarms over a new virus, known as the Camp Hill virus. A fatal virus has reportedly been discovered in shrews in Alabama, sparking concerns about potential contagion to humans.
The Camp hill virus thought to be the first “henipavirus” in North America — was discovered by researchers, aco at The University of Queensland, according to media reports. This virus belongs to the same family as the lethal Nipah and Hendra viruses, which have an alarming mortality rate of around 70 percent among infected individuals.
President Donald Trump recently decided to withdraw from the World Health Organization, which has been received favorably. However, this could lead to inappropriate information sharing regarding the Camp Hill virus.
Camp hill virus detected in Alabama
Dr David Dyjack, a public health expert at the National Environmental Health Association, who was not involved in the research, told DailyMail.com a new virus like this could be ‘threatening to all mankind.’
He said: ‘What concerns us in public health is we have this virus with [we believe] a very high mortality rate, and if it were to mutate and transmit to a human, and attack the kidneys, as we’ve seen in some animals, that could be particularly threatening to all of mankind.’
The new pathogen has yet to infect human being, but other pathogens in the same family can cause spinal cord and brain inflammation, brain swelling, respiratory distress, kidney damage, and liver damage, according to Daily Mail.
Dr Dyjack added: ‘I would say that there are three things that keep me up at night: One is a nuclear war. The second is the implications of a changing climate, and the third is a global pandemic. The Camp Hill virus sits squarely in the bullseye of the pandemic concern.’
Other experts are less alarmed about the discovery, such as Dr Donald Burke, an epidemiologist who predicted a global coronavirus pandemic two decades before the 2020 crisis. He told DailyMail.com that Camp Hill ‘isn’t likely to cause an epidemic.’
The virus is still new, which means new studies are needed into the effects on humans, as a person has yet to be infected. Other viruses in the same family can cause spinal cord and brain inflammation, swelling, respiratory distress, kidney damage, and liver damage.
How does the virus spread?
Early indications are that the virus can be transmitted from shrews to humans, which could lead to a dangerous pandemic. Similar viruses to the Camp Hil virus are typically spread through bodily fluids or close contact with an infected party.
“For something like this, if it’s airborne, that causes me great distress as a public health professional,” Dyjack said. The virus does not necessarily pose an immediate threat, as it would likely need to mutate further to become a significant threat.
“There’s more that we don’t know than we know as it relates to public health, as tissue and human health. On the face of it, that is alarming, particularly since it has been identified within the homeland.”
Data shows it may be able to infect human cells, Dr Adam Hume, a virologist at Boston University, told DailyMail.com: ‘That doesn’t tell you whether it would be pathogenic [cause disease] or not, but if it can’t enter human cells, then it does tell you that it probably isn’t pathogenic.’
Dr Rhys Parry from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said: The closest known henipavirus to Camp Hill virus that has caused disease in humans is Langya virus, which crossed from shrews to humans in China.
‘This indicates that shrew-to-human transmission can occur.’
All about henipavirus family
“The closest known henipavirus to Camp Hill virus that has caused disease in humans is Langya virus, which crossed from shrews to humans in China,” the researcher said. “This indicates that shrew-to-human transmission can occur.”
Another dangerous henipavirus is the Hendra virus, which was first detected in Brisbane, Australia and has a fatality rate of 70%, according to Parry.
Langya virus, like Camp Hill, Nipah, and Hedra, belongs to the henipavirus family. It generally causes mild symptoms, including coughing, fatigue, and fever.
Nipah and Hendra viruses can prove much more severe. The Nipah virus causes severe respiratory distress, brain inflammation and swelling, and potential organ failure. Hendra virus causes similar inflammation and respiratory failure, as well as pneumonia.
Symptoms of henipavirus infection come on around five days to three weeks after exposure to the bodily fluids of infected animals. It kills about 70 percent of people infected. The infection to symptom time of the Nipah virus is shorter, around three to 14 days after exposure. It kills between 40 and 75 percent of its victims.
