Amid Coronavirus pandemic, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) scientists have found another virus, the ‘Cat Que Virus,’ reported mainly in China.
According to the report published by ICMR, the virus has the potential to spread diseases across India.
One of the arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), the CQV may cause febrile illnesses, meningitis, and paediatric encephalitis among humans.
National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune researchers found antibodies for the virus in two out of the 883 human serum samples which were taken from various Indian states, indicating that people at some point contracted the virus.
The two samples that tested positive for CQV antibodies came from Karnataka in 2014 and 2017.
As per the ICMR study, Indian mosquitoes are susceptible to CQV, which could also become a public health pathogen.
Its natural host is a mosquito. Domestic pigs are the primary mammalian host of CQV and anti-CQV IgM and IgG antibodies have been reported in swine reared locally in China.
The presence of CQV in Culex mosquitoes in China and pigs in Vietnam suggested the susceptibility of Asian countries to CQV.
Inputs from DNA
