KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A new virus, likely carried by bats, has been discovered in the state of Malacca, local press reported on Saturday.

The virus named "Malacca Virus" was isolated from a 39-year-oldsoldier, his wife and two children, who developed high fever accompanied with headache, cough, sore throat and flu, Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

The soldier fell sick a week after a bat flew into his house in March last year and blood samples from him and his family showed that they had contacted the virus, according to the newspaper.

Local virologists said that the virus could cause tissue culture damage similar to the Nipah virus, but adding whether the new virus could cause death remained unknown.

Malaysian and Australian scientists have conducted joint testing and discovered the Malacca virus belonged to the family of reoviruses, which were first found in humans in the early 1050s.