China To Study Never-Before-Seen Viruses, Raise Concerns For Future Pandemics

Of the novel viruses, a new coronavirus dubbed CoV-HMU-1 was found to be a betacoronavirus -- a sub-genre of coronaviruses that includes Covid.

Chinese scientists have discovered eight never-before-seen viruses on Hainan, tropical island off the southern coast of China. As per reports, all these eight viruses have the ability to trigger a new pandemic if they ever cross the species barrier. "The viruses were found in rodents, and experts have warned that they have a "high probability" of infecting humans if they ever cross the species barrier," an expert told the media.

The discovery was made by the scientists who were tasked with preparing the world for a future pandemic. "We examined over 700 samples from rodents who are living in Hainan and found eight novel viruses. One of the viruses belongs to the same family as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19."

The findings were published in the journal Virologica Sinica, the publishing arm of the Chinese Society for Microbiology (CSM).

As per records, Virologica Sinica is also edited by Dr. Shi Zhengli, an influential scientist described as China's 'bat woman' who works inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology considered to be the source of the Covid pandemic in some corners.

The identification of these new viruses serves as a strong reminder of the existence of countless unidentified pathogens, some of which may pose a potential risk to human health. As a result, they called for further experiments on the viruses.

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