First-Ever 'Vampire Virus' Discovered In US: Here's What It Is

By Joe Lombardi,

16 days ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3KxqRT_0pjNGyP600 — The newly discovered satellite virus latched onto its helper virus in an image by professor Tagide deCarvalho of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Photo Credit: University of Maryland-Baltimore County/Tagide deCarvalho

The discovery came from a student project led by professor Tagide deCarvalho at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County which is outlined in the Journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.

The so-called MiniFlayer "viral hitchhiker" was found about 30 miles northwest of Washington, DC in a soil sample in Poolesville, Maryland after a virus satellite they named MindFlayer was detected in 2019.

"No one had ever seen one virus latching onto another virus, until anomalous sequencing results sent a UMBC team down a rabbit hole leading to a first-of-its-kind discovery," reads a report on the discovery by UMBC.

"Yes, viruses can actually get sick," according to a report in Scientific America. "Even better, as karmic justice would have it, the culprits turn out to be other viruses."

First-Ever 'Vampire Virus' Discovered In US: Here's What It Is

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