Beijing:
NeoCov a new lethal variant of Corona virus has been detected in bats especially in South Africa. A new research carried out and studies conducted by Chinese researchers and Professors of Wuhan that the virus is very dangerous and if mutated may pose a threat to humans news media reported.
NeoCov belongs to the MERS-Middle East respiratory syndrome, a viral disease identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia.
“Human being cannot be infected by the recent form of NeoCov, but further mutations may make it potentially harmful”, the research papers noted.
The authors of the study noted, “In this study, we unexpectedly found that NeoCoV and its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV, can efficiently use some types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and, less favourably, human ACE2 for entry,” the authors of the study noted.
They further mentioned: “Our study demonstrates the first case of ACE2 usage in MERS-related viruses, shedding light on a potential bio-safety threat of the human emergence of an ACE2 using “MERS-CoV-2″ with both high fatality and transmission rate.”
The research papers have also noted that infection with NeoCov could not be cross-neutralised by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.
The authors of the study added: “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”.
