Scientists from Wuhan warn about the new highly infectious NeoCoV strain. First found spreading in animals, the virus could spread to humans. Reports say it has high death and transmission rates. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is NeoCoV?
A new report by Sputnik, a Russian news agency showcases the NeoCoV virus as a new type of coronavirus with high transmission and death rate. However, another report states the virus is not very new. NeoCoV is associated with the MERS-CoV virus and was first discovered in the outbreaks in Middle Eastern nations in 2015. The virus is very similar to SARS-CoV-2 or the human coronavirus. It was first discovered in a population of bats in South Africa. Currently, NeoCoV is known for spreading among bats. However, a new study reveals additional information.
Why is the new COVID strain a risk?
According to the study published in bioRxiv, researchers discovered that NeoCoV and PDF-2180-CoV, a close relative are capable of infecting humans. Moreover, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Biophysics and Wuhan University believe one mutation can help a virus enter human cells. Hence, NeoCoV is a risk since its ACE2 receptor binding is different from coronavirus. Due to this change, antibodies and protein molecules of pre-infected people can’t provide protection against NeoCoV.
Due to the new change in mutation, researchers from Wuhan believe one in every three infections may lead to death. After all, NeoCoV carries a potentially high mortality version of the MERS-CoV where one in every three infected patients died. However, experts from Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology believe that Chinese scientists have proof about the NeoCoV coronavirus. But, they are insisting that this data does not reveal that its emergence equals human transmission. Further studies are important to understand its potential.