scientists have discovered a new virus .
amit kapoor , a virologist at columbia university led the team that identified the new virus — and which has named it human hepegivirus 1 , or hhpgv-1 — notes that many people understand that humans coexist with myriad bacteria that are not dangerous , but they do n’t realize the same holds true for some viruses .
we do n’t know if it is going to be a significant cause of human hepatitis , ” lipkin told nbc news .
the team made the discovery thanks to new , sophisticated techniques for sequencing fragments of rna and dna .
 
as part of a search for novel human viruses , the group scoured blood samples .
“ so far there is no need to be concerned , ” said amit kapoor , an assistant professor at columbia university who led the study .
“ it is the first transfusion - associated virus that ’s been described in a long time .
” to find it , the team sampled blood banked at the national institutes of health from 46 volunteers between 1974 and 1980 .