NeoCoV coronavirus strain can kill 1 in 3 people: Report

New Delhi : Scientists in China, where the coronavirus was first detected, have warned of finding a new strain in Africa – NeoCoV. They have claimed that the death rate in NeoCoV is very high, according to a report by the Russian news agency Sputnik.

The report mentioned that the strain is not new. Associated with the MERS-CoV virus, it was discovered in outbreaks in Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and 2015 and is similar to the the SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus in humans.

NeoCoV is found mainly among the bats and spread only in the species. But a new study published as a preprint on the bioRxiv website discovered that NeoCoV and its close relative PDF-2180-CoV can infect humans.

According to researchers from Wuhan University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Biophysics, only one mutation is required for the virus to infiltrate human cells.

According to Chinese researchers, NeoCoV carries the potential combination of MERS-high CoV’s mortality rate (one in every three infected person dies) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus’s high transmission rate.

Following a briefing on NeoCoV, experts from the Russian State Virology and Biotechnology Research Center issued a statement on Thursday, the report stated.

“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," it said, adding that the potential risks outlined needed to be studied and probed further.

(Source)