Another Virus From China May Spread Disease In India As ICMR Finds Antibodies In Samples From Karnataka

‘Cat Que Virus’ (CQV) is a disease that has been extensively reported in China and Vietnam. It is an Arthropod-borne virus and found in culex mosquitoes and pigs.

Hindustan Times reports that scientists at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found antibodies for CQV in two out of the 883 human serum samples that they tested across different states.

The two samples were of people from Karnataka. It was determined that they had presence of anti-CQV IgG antibodies in 2014 and 2017.

Livemint reports that ICMR scientists have devised a few factors that indicate that this orthobunyavirus could potentially be troublesome for India.

Availability of vector, primary mammalian host (swine) along with the confirmation of CQV from the jungle myna bird are the some of the reported facets.

The scientists formulated molecular and serological tests for CQV. They also studied its replication kinetics in mosquitoes, something that indicates its ability to spread the disease in India.

Ae. aegypti, Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. Tritaeniorhynchus are the native mosquito breeds that could be at risk against CQV. Whether the virus could be transmitted by birds is yet to be deliberated upon.