A group of scientists from Wuhan send a warning to people regarding a new type of Covid-19, named NeoCov, which has a high infection and death rate.
Wuhan scientist warns of new type of Covid-19:
According to the Scientists, the new kind of Covid has a potentially high death and infection rate. According to a Sputnik report, the NeoCov virus has been discovered in South Africa and it is reportedly related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-COV.
Where was it first reported?
NeoCoV was initially reported in the bat population in South Africa and it then spread among animals, according to the Sputnik report. A new study recently claimed that one mutation could lead to the virus being passed from animals to humans.
Facts revealed about NeoCoV:
The study found that NeoCoV and its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV have the ability to use some types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme2 (ACE2) and human ACE2 to enter the body. The researchers have insisted that one mutation could result in the virus getting transmitted to human cells, Sputnik reported.
The startling revelation has been made by the scientists from the Wuhan University and Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The new study is not yet peer-reviewed and has been released in a preprint on bioRxiv.
Sputnik cited the Wuhan scientists as saying that NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
Reacting to the findings of the new study, Russian researchers from Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology said that they were aware of the Chinese research on NeoCoV coronavirus.
While speaking to the BCCI Maria van Kerkhove, “This virus is still evolving and changing and we need to change and adjust accordingly. We not only have to increase the vaccination coverage around the world, but also try and transition out. It will not end with the latest wave and Omicron will not be the last variant we speak about, unfortunately.”
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