“NeoCov”: Chinese scientists warn a new type of Coronavirus found in Bats
NeoCov: Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wuhan University discovered NeoCov in a bat population in South Africa also has only spread among these animals so far.
According to a study conducted by Chinese researchers, NeoCov. A type of coronavirus that spreads among bats in South Africa. May pose a threat to humans in the future if it mutates further.
The study, which has now to be peer-reviewed, was recently published on the preprint repository BioRxiv. And showed that NeoCov is closely related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). A viral disease discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Coronaviruses are a large virus family that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science. Also Wuhan University discovered NeoCov in a bat population in South Africa also has only spread among these animals so far.
NeoCov does not infect humans in its current form, but further mutations could make it potentially harmful, according to the researchers.
We discovered that NeoCoV and its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV. It can efficiently use some types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) also. Less favorably, human ACE2 for entry in this study. “The study’s authors made this observation.
ACE2 is a cell receptor protein that allows the coronavirus to attach to and infect various cells.
Our examination is the 1st to show the use of ACE2 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 “They stated.
The researchers also noted that antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV could not cross-neutralize NeoCov infection.
