Cat que infection: Another virus from China can possibly trigger general health emergency in India:ICMR

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Microbioz India


• Date: 28 Sep,2020

At a time when India is still grappling with the novel coronavirus pandemic that started in China’s Wuhan, scientists have warned of another virus from China that has the potential to spread diseases in India.

Researchers at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have discovered that the’cat que virus’ (CQV), that has infected many in China, may cause diseases like febrile illnesses, meningitis, and paediatric encephalitis in India too, reported Livemint.

China and Vietnam have reported the existence of CQV inside culex mosquitoes and pigs.

According to the ICMR study, data has shown that Indian mosquitoes, namely, aegypti, Cx. Quinquefasciatus, and Cx. Tritaeniorhynchus, are susceptible to the CQV. Swines are the key mammalian host of the CQV.

Researchers at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune have discovered the presence of the antibodies for the CQV in two out of 883 human serum samples which were collected across India. This means that those two people had contracted the disease at some point in time; this has raised fear of the CQV spread in the country.

Both samples where CQV anti-bodies were found were from Karnataka; one was from 2014, another from 2017.

However, the virus was not found in the samples — both people and animals.

ICMR said:”Anti-CQV IgG antibody positivity in human serum samples tested and the replication capability of CQV in mosquitoes signaled a potential disease-causing potential of CQV in Indian situation. Screening of human and swine serum samples using these assays is required as a proactive measure for understanding the prevalence of the neglected tropical climate.”