An international research team in Bangladesh has discovered a previously unknown virus that can be transmitted from bats to humans. This is not an outbreak of Nipah virus, but a hidden pathogen, Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV). It has already infected several patients.

Researchers at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Columbia University have determined that patients who were initially hospitalized with symptoms similar to Nipah virus were actually infected with PRV. This virus is innate to bats, but its transmission to humans had not been previously recorded.

The patients were admitted to the hospital with high fever, headache, vomiting, and profuse salivation. Signs of damage to the nervous system were also observed. Laboratory tests ruled out Nipah, but viral sequencing confirmed active infection with PRV.

All five patients had recently consumed raw palm sap that was collected outdoors. Bats also like to feed on the sweet sap, which is a route of infection through sap collection containers. This route of infection had also been recorded in the past in the spread of Nipah virus.

The new virus can cause mild disease, but it can also manifest in more severe forms that resemble Nipah.