Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold (which is also caused by other viruses, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19, which is causing an ongoing pandemic. In cows and pigs they cause diarrhea, while in mice they cause hepatitis and encephalomyelitis.
"NeoCov": china Warns Of New Kind Of Coronavirus From Bats.
NeoCov: What WHO says on this new coronavirus variant possibly deadlier than previous strains.
Whether the virus detected in the study will pose a risk for humans will require further study, WHO said
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Scientists from China’s Wuhan, where the Covid-19 virus was first discovered in 2019, have warned of a new type of coronavirus ‘NeoCov’ in South Africa, stated to have a high death and transmission rate, according to a report by the Russian news agency Sputnik
With scientists from China's Wuhan flagging a concern regarding a more contagious and possibly deadlier strain of coronavirus NeoCov, World Health Organization (WHO) asserted that it still needs to be studied whether it poses threats for humans.
NeoCov is related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS-coronavirus. “The virus is discovered in a bat population in South Africa and is currently spreading only among animals," the scientists said and further warned, “Just one mutation is enough for the virus to be able to infiltrate human cells."
What did WHO say?
"Whether the virus detected in the study will pose a risk for humans will require further study," WHO told Russian news agency Tass.
"Animals, particularly wild animals are the source of more than 75% 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," WHO said.
WHO is aware of the new finding of Wuhan scientists and is in touch with the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization to respond to this.
NeoCoV was found in a population of bats in South Africa and to date has spread exclusively among these animals. However, the study, not yet peer-reviewed and released on the bioRxiv website, found, NeoCoV and its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV, can use some types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and human ACE2 for entry.
Just one mutation is enough for the virus to be able to infiltrate human cells, claim scientists.
According to Chinese researchers, NeoCoV carries the potential combination of MERS-high CoV’s mortality rate (one in every three infected person dies) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus’s high transmission rate.
Most of the human cases of MERS-CoV infections spread through human-to-human infections. Many people have lost their lives due to MERS-CoV.
Can Covid vaccines protect us from NeoCov?
The researchers further noted that infection with NeoCov could not be cross-neutralised by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.
"Considering the extensive mutations in the RBD regions of the SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially the heavily mutated Omicron variant, these viruses may hold a latent potential to infect humans through further adaptation
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