NeoCov: Wuhan Scientists Warn of New Coronavirus Strain With High Death, Infection Rate

According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, scientists from Wuhan, China, where the Covid-19 virus was discovered in 2019, have warned of a new coronavirus 'NeoCov' in South Africa, which has been reported to have a high death and transmission rate. However, according to a report, the new variant of the NeoCov virus is not new.

NeoCov Coronavirus Variant: Everything We Know So Far

Point 1: The MERS-coronavirus was found to be associated with outbreaks in Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and 2015 [1]. The virus is similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes coronavirus infection in humans.

Point 2: Researchers reported that NeoCoV might be able to combine the high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected individuals die on average) with the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus [2].

Point 3: In spite of the fact that NeoCoV was discovered in a bat population in South Africa and is known to spread among these animals only, a new unpublished study published as a preprint on the bioRxiv site has found that NeoCoV and its close relative PDF-2180-CoV can infect humans [3].

Point 4: Researchers from Wuhan University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biophysics believe that only one mutation is required for the virus to invade human cells [4].

Point 5: According to the research findings, the novel coronavirus poses a threat because it binds to the ACE2 receptor differently than the coronavirus. Therefore, neither antibodies nor protein molecules produced by people with respiratory diseases nor those who have been immunized will be able to protect against NeoCoV.

Point 6: Based on the new study's findings, Russian researchers from Vector Russian State Research Centre for Virology and Biotechnology are believed to be aware of the research conducted by Wuhan researchers on NeoCoV coronavirus. However, the researchers cautioned that the new virus is not capable of transmitting to humans.

"The Vector research centre is aware of the data obtained by Chinese researchers on the NeoCoV coronavirus. At the moment, the issue is not the emergence of a new coronavirus capable of actively spreading among humans," the report stated, adding that the potential risks mentioned need to be studied and investigated further [5].