The infections were found in China’s eastern Shandong and central Henan provinces, affecting 35 people, mostly farmers and cases were found with help from a detection system for people with acute fever and a history of animal exposure.

The virus is called Langya henipavirus or LayV, and patients reported symptoms that include fever, fatigue, cough, nausea and headaches. Some people also developed blood cell abnormalities and impaired liver and kidney functions, according to the report.

There was no close contact or common exposure history among the patients, which suggests that the infection in the human population may be sporadic, according to the report.

Further investigation is needed to better understand illnesses associated with the virus, according to the researchers in China, Singapore and Australia who were involved in the paper. Cases of Langya henipavirus have so far not been fatal or very serious, said Linfa Wang of the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.