What Is NeoCov, ‘Deadlier’ Coronavirus Strain That’s Left Wuhan Scientists Concerned?

What is the News?

Researchers from China have been warning about a new strain of coronavirus that could be even deadlier than Covid-19. This new strain is called ‘Neo-Cov’.

What is NeoCoV?

NeoCoV is a bat coronavirus that was first identified in 2011. It was identified in South Africa in a species of bats known as Neoromicia, which is where the name NeoCoV was derived from. 

Is NeoCov a new Covid variant?

No, Neo-Cov is not a new Covid-19 variant. It belongs to a distinctly different genera (a type of subclassification) of coronaviruses known as merbecovirus.

In 2014, it was found that NeoCoV shares an 85% similarity to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the genome sequence, making it the closest known relative of MERS-CoV.

Note: MERS-CoV was first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. It is a zoonotic virus which means it can transmit between animals and people. Dromedary camels were the major host of the virus at that time.

Does NeoCoV infect humans and cause high mortality?

So far, the virus has only been found to infect bats. Hence, this means that in its current form, it does not infect humans yet and has thus not caused any deaths.

What scientists from China have found out about NeoCoV?

NeoCov is currently spreading only among animals. However, NeoCov is just one mutation away from being able to penetrate the human immune system.

NeoCoV virus also has an extremely high transmission and fatality rate, as it can cause death in at least one out of three infected people. 

Moreover, infection with NeoCov could not be cross-neutralized by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.

Source: This post is based on the article “What Is NeoCov, ‘Deadlier’ Coronavirus Strain That’s Left Wuhan Scientists Concerned?” published in “The Outlook” on 31st Jan 2022.