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For the first time, a close relative of a lethal family pathogen has been found in an animal in the United States.
The development has raised concerns about possible human transmission.
This is the first known case of a henipavirus in North America. The disease, which scientists have called Camp Hill virus, was found in four northern short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) in Alabama.
The animals were captured in 2021 in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, close to the town of the same name. The virus was identified by researchers from the University of Queensland after the animals were seized for a study, dissected, and their organs frozen for later analysis.
Here’s all we know about it.
What is the Camp Hill virus?
The Camp Hill virus belongs to the henipavirus family, which is a large collection of viruses that usually infect bats but can also “spill over” into other mammals, including people.
Henipaviruses have the ability to cause encephalitis, a form of brain inflammation, and serious respiratory illnesses in humans.
The Nipah and Hendra viruses are two of the most well-known henipaviruses that may infect people.
According to Dailymail, these viruses can result in respiratory discomfort, brain swelling, kidney damage, liver damage, and inflammation of the spinal cord and brain.
The former virus, which has a case-fatality rate of over 60 per cent, was initially identified in Australia in 1994. Since it was first discovered in Malaysia in 1998, the latter pathogen has spread throughout Southeast Asia, causing illness outbreaks that kill 40 to 70 per cent of affected individuals.
Despite being a member of the same genus as the Nipah and Hendra viruses, known as Henipavirus, the Camp Hill virus is genetically different from both, Dr Parry said.
Bat-borne henipaviruses such as Hendra and Nipah are not as closely linked to the Camp Hill virus as other shrew-borne henipaviruses seen in Southeast Asia and Europe.
This distinction is important because bat-borne henipaviruses have been known to produce serious disease outbreaks in humans and tend to infect a larger spectrum of hosts and cause them more harm, he explained.
According to Parry, the Langya virus is the only other shrew-borne henipavirus that has been discovered to far.
Between 2018 and 2021, this virus affected 35 people in China, resulting in symptoms like fever, coughing, and exhaustion. In rare cases, it also caused liver and kidney damage. Importantly, however, there were no recorded fatalities.
There are presently no known vaccinations or treatments for henipaviruses.
Why has its discovery raised concerns?
According to a study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Camp Hill virus finding is significant since it is the first henipavirus to be found in North America.
This finding suggests that henipaviruses might be more common than previously believed.
The study claims that the discovery of the Camp Hill virus “raises concerns about past and potential future spillover events” because of the high case-fatality rates linked to henipaviruses.
It specifically shows that B. brevicauda shrews, which are widespread in central and eastern North America, can carry these viruses in addition to other pathogens that have been shown to infect humans.
The researchers suspected that the Camp Hill virus would be dangerous to people and could be transmitted by direct contact with sick animals or their urine and feces.
They have, however, warned against drawing rash conclusions.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the provisionally named Camp Hill virus has infected humans, and the likelihood of it doing so remains unknown but is likely low,” lead study author
Rhys Parry, a molecular virologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, told Live Science in an email.
According to the study’s authors, B. brevicauda shrews often live in woodland regions in North America where they would not frequently come into direct contact with people.
Will it be a threat to mankind?
A new virus like this might be “threatening to all mankind,” according to Dr David Dyjack, an expert in public health at the National Environmental Health Association who was not involved in the study, who spoke to DailyMail.
“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.”
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.”
According to the data, the virus may be able to infect human cells, according to Dr Adam Hume, a virologist at Boston University. He told DailyMail, “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. Donald Burke, an epidemiologist who predicted a global coronavirus pandemic two decades prior to the 2020 crisis, is among the scientists who are less concerned about the discovery.
“Camp Hill isn’t likely to cause an epidemic,” he told DailyMail.
Since the virus is still relatively new, more research is required to determine its impact on people because an individual must not yet have contracted it.
With inputs from agencies