NeoCoV, the likely COVID strain with high mortality rate; all you need to know

As countries across the globe are dealing with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, reports of another likely variant linked to MERS have come in from China. Chinese scientists have sounded warnings about NeoCoV, a mutation related to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), associated with outbreaks in Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and 2015. 

NeoCoV is stated to have a high transmission rate and mortality rate as per the Russian website Sputnik. 

This new mutation has been discovered in a population of bats in South Africa. Till now, the variant has only been observed to spread among animals, reported India Today. However, a new study has shined light on the possibility that it can spread from bats to humans. 

The warning about NeoCoV has come on the back of a yet-to-be peer-reviewed study published in preprint on the bioRxiv website. As per the study, researchers have found out that NeoCoV as well as its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV, can utilise types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and human ACE2 for entry into the human body.

Why is NeoCoV dangerous?

Scientists have warned that this new coronavirus strain could bind to the human ACE2 enzyme in a way that is different to how the COVID-19 pathogen does. The virus could have combined attributes of both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19 infection. It could have a high mortality rate of MER-CoV and a high transmission rate of the current dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2. 

A report published on the Russian website Sputnik claims that the high mortality rate of MERS could mean "one in three infected people dying on average".

"Our study demonstrates the first case of ACE2 usage in MERS-related viruses, shedding light on a potential bio-safety threat of the human emergence of an ACE2 using 'MERS-CoV-2' with both high fatality and transmission rate," the paper said.

"Experts from the Vector research centre are aware of the data that Chinese researchers obtained regarding NeoCov coronavirus. At this time, it's not about the emergence of a new coronavirus capable of actively spreading among humans," Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology said in a statement.

Till now, no cases of people being infected by NeoCoV have been discovered. However, scientists are urging more research into the matter to see this mutation can migrate to humans or not. The World Health Organisation (WHO), which identifies and notifies mutations and new virus outbreaks, yet to issue any statement on NeoCoV variant. 

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