Although Omicron’s fast-spreading spread began to wane in certain areas of the world, experts in Wuhan, China, where the Covid-19 epidemic occurred, raised concerns about NeoCov’s significantly faster rate of transmission than previous variants and the likelihood that it could represent the deadliest disease ever.
As for the latest type of Covid-19, it is not a new variant but is related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome that affected middle-eastern countries in 2012 and 2015.
NeoCov, according to a research paper submitted by scientists in Wuhan, is closely related to Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS-coronavirus. The paper was published on the bioRxiv website and is yet to be peer-reviewed.
The research found MERS-CoV belongs to lineage C of Beta-CoV (Merbecoviruses), which poses a high threat considering its approximately 35 percent fatality rate.
The scientists noted that their study illustrates the first case of ACE2 usage in MERS-related viruses, which sheds light on the potential bio-safety threat of a MERS-associated CMV with both a high fatality rate and a high rate of transmission if it emerges in the human population.
“Immunity triggered by previous infection or vaccination against other coronaviruses may be inadequate to protect humans against NeoCoV and PDF-2180-CoV infections since neither SARS-CoV-2 antisera nor the ten tested anti-MERS-CoV nanobodies can cross-inhibit the infection caused by these viruses.” the researchers stated.
According to WHO, the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus was transmitted to humans from infected dromedary camels. The source of the virus is still a mystery, but based on genome analysis, the analysis suggests that dromedary camels are likely to be the origin of the virus.
In the Middle East respiratory syndrome, the virus was transferred to humans from infected dromedary camels. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the origins of the virus are not fully understood but based on genome analysis of the virus, the disease is believed to have originated in bats and to have spread to camels at some point in the distant past.
