Wuhan scientists warn of new type of Coronavirus 'NeoCoV'; here's all you need to know

A team of scientists from Wuhan have warned of a new type of Coronavirus 'NeoCoV', which they predict to have potentially high death and infection rate.

NeoCoV was first found in the bat population in South Africa and it then spread among animals, according to the Sputnik report. A new study recently claimed that one mutation could lead to the virus being passed from animals to humans. According to a Sputnik report, the NeoCov virus has been discovered in South Africa and it is reportedly related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-COV.

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. The research findings stated that the novel coronavirus poses a risk because it binds to the ACE2 receptor differently than the coronavirus pathogen. As a result, neither antibodies nor protein molecules produced by people with respiratory diseases or who have been immunised can protect against NeoCoV.

Reacting to the findings of the new study, Russian researchers from Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology beleived to be aware of the Chinese research on NeoCoV coronavirus. However, it was mentioned that the data does not reveal the emergence of a new coronavirus that could be transmitted among humans and called for deeper study in this regard.