Health Watch – Cristoli Virus: New virus discovered in Paris using coronavirus technique

 “At the moment, we have only one case to describe. Obviously, if other cases are diagnosed in the future, we will be able to have a slightly more precise idea of the clinical picture associated with this disease. The new virus is a type of orthobunyavirus, a family of pathogens commonly spread by mosquitoes. It was discovered using a technique known as metagenomics, which was also used by Chinese researchers to identify the Covid-19 virus when it first emerged in Wuhan last year. Scientists take a sample of body fluid or tissue – in this case from the patient’s brain – and sequence any DNA present. This allows them to identify all organisms in the sample at once. But beyond the method of discovery, there is little to link the new virus with the Covid-19 coronavirus, say the researchers. “The mode of transmission of this disease has nothing to do with coronavirus. With coronavirus, it’s a direct human-to-human transmission with droplets and therefore a possibility of epidemic spread which is very important,” said Professor Pawlotsky.

 “We are dealing with something very different and, frankly, we do not know today how this patient caught this disease, how she caught this virus. We suspect it’s through insects because insects transmit this type of viral infection but we have absolutely no proof of that today.” The identification of another new virus shortly after coronavirus is in fact a sign of improving methods of detection, say the researchers, something they expect to lead to increasing numbers of new pathogens being found in the future. “It’s not worrying, the fact that we have new viruses, because that’s the story of life in general,” Dr Christophe Rodriguez, of the hospital’s virology department told AFP.  –France 24