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NeoCov: Wuhan Scientists Warn of New Coronavirus Strain With High Death And Transmission Rate
Even as the world continues to fight the biggest healthcare battle against the SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, scientists in Wuhan, the place where the first case of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 was first found in 2019 (is also known as the place where coronavirus has originated), have detected a new type of coronavirus that could be 'deadlier' than COVID-19. The newly found strain has been named as 'Neo-Cov'. This is not a variant of the coronavirus which is a result of the mutations but is a strain of coronavirus which is related to the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome or MERS-coronavirus. According to the Wuhan scientists, NeoCov is carrying two worrisome characteristics - the high mortality rate of MERS-CoV and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
NeoCov is not a new virus but is associated with the MERS-CoV virus which was first discovered in outbreaks in Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and 2015. According to the study reports, this coronavirus type was first found in South Africa's bat population. Although so far it was only known to spread only among the animals, a new unpeered study claims that this new type of coronavirus can also infect humans.
The scientists have warned that the NeoCov can penetrate human cells in the same way as SARS-CoV-2. "It is only one mutation away from becoming dangerous for humans," researchers said in a paper posted on the preprint website bioRxiv, and not peer-reviewed yet. The researchers from Wuhan have also warned that neither antibodies generated due to coronavirus nor COVID-19 vaccination could protect the human body against NeoCov. "NeoCoV can not be cured by antibodies nor protein molecules produced by people with respiratory diseases," the researchers stated in the study report.
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While research claims it has a latent ability to mutate, the World Health Organisation has said its potential needs further clarity. According to the WHO, the question of whether the NeoCov coronavirus, recently discovered in bats in South Africa, poses a threat to humans, requires further study.
"Whether the virus detected in the study will pose a risk for humans will require further study," the health body was quoted as saying to TASS news agency. The WHO added that it "works closely" with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the UN Environment Program (UNEP)in order to "monitor and respond to the threat of emerging zoonotic viruses."
The WHO told TASS that its experts were aware of this research, and "thank the researchers for sharing their findings in a preprint." "Animals, particularly wild animals, are the source of more than 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, many of which are caused by novel viruses. Coronaviruses are often found in animals, including in bats which have been identified as a natural reservoir of many of these viruses," the global body said.
(With inputs from Agencies)