NeoCov Coronavirus Detected In Bats In South Africa Requires Further Study - Vector Center

Possible risks from the new NeoCov coronavirus strain identified by Chinese scientists in bats in South Africa require further research and assessment, the Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) Possible risks from the new NeoCov coronavirus strain identified by Chinese scientists in bats in South Africa require further research and assessment, the Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector told Sputnik.

Earlier this week, Chinese scientists, most of whom work for Wuhan University, published a preprint of an article about the risks of penetration of NeoCov into the human population on the bioRxiv website.

"Specialists of the Vector Scientific Center are aware of the data obtained by Chinese specialists regarding the NeoCov coronavirus.

At the moment, there are no discussions about the emergence of a new coronavirus that is ready to actively spread in the human population. The risks identified by Chinese experts are potential and require further study," Vector noted.

The virus in question is a close relative of the middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) but has similar ways of entry into human cells as SARS-CoV-2, the scientists said, adding that NeoCov has a latent potential to mutate and penetrate in the human population.