Scientists in China are warning about a new coronavirus, NeoCoV, related to Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-coronavirus). NeoCoV has the highest MERS-CoV mortality rate (the average person dies here) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus transmission rate, the researchers said.


 

"Furthermore, our studies show that current COVID-19 vaccines are inadequate to protect humans from infections caused by these viruses," said a research paper published on the bioRxiv website. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and has been released in preprint.

"Considering the extensive mutations in the RBD regions of SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially the heavily mutated Omicron variant, these viruses may have the latent potential to infect humans through further adaptation by antigenic drift," the paper adds.

The NeoCoV virus was previously linked to outbreaks in the Middle East in 2012 and 2015. It is similar to COVID-19, which causes coronavirus in many ways. NeoCoV is found in the bat population of South Africa and is particularly prevalent in these animals.

According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the Russian State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology released a statement on Thursday after describing NeoCoV in response to the publication. "Experts at the Vector Research Center know about the data that Chinese researchers have obtained about the NeoCoV coronavirus. At present, it's not about the emergence of a new coronavirus that can be actively spread in humans." They said the Chinese team had outlined the potential risks that would require further study.

Currently, infections caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus are spreading rapidly around the world. This variant is known for its high transmissibility rate, but not as severe as its predecessor Delta variant.

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