At the time when the world is trying to deal with the novel coronavirus, scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have warned of another Chinese virus called 'Cat Que Virus' (CQV) which has a potential to spread disease in India.

According to a report of Times Now, the CQV can cause febrile illnesses, meningitis and paediatric encephalitis in humans.

The report, citing seven researchers at the ICMR's National Institute of Virology in Pune, stated that China and Vietnam have reported the presence of Cat Que Virus in culex mosquitoes and pigs. The experts emphasised the need to understand the replication kinetics of this virus due to the spread of similar species of the Culex mosquitoes in India, the report said.

The apex research body revealed that domestic pigs are the primary mammalian host of CQV and antibodies against the virus have been reported in swine reared locally in China. This indicates that CQV has formed a natural cycle in local areas, said the report.

The scientists discovered antibodies for the tropical virus in two out of the 883 human serum samples tested across states. It indicates that these two people were infected with the virus at some point of time. It was not found in any of the human at the time of study.

"Anti-CQV IgG antibody positivity in human serum samples tested and the replication capability of CQV in mosquitoes indicated a possible disease-causing potential of CQV in the Indian scenario. Screening of more human and swine serum samples using these assays is required as a proactive measure for the understanding the prevalence of this neglected tropical virus," the research published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in June stated.

"In the Indian context, data showed that mosquitoes such as Ae. aegypti, Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. Tritaeniorhynchus were susceptible to CQV. Thus, mosquitoes were found to be a potential vector for CQV transmission to mammalian hosts", said a scientist.