Ten Things To Know About NeoCoV: Virus Detected By Chinese Researchers

After the Chinese scientists discovered a new virus NeoCoV that could emerge from bats and be potentially life-threatening, experts say that it doesn’t pose any threat to humankind. According to reports, the virus cannot be transmitted to humans directly in its natural form and the possibilities of artificial mutations are negligible as of yet.

A Chinese research paper, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, claims that a new type of coronavirus, NeoCoV found in the bats of South Africa could potentially kill one in every third infected person. They claim that it can enter human cells, however, top health experts dismissed these claims saying that it doesn’t have the potential to bind with human cells in its current form.

Here’s what we know about NeoCoV so far:

1. State Task Force member Dr Shashank Joshi told The Times of India that the receptors used by the virus cannot bind themselves with those in the human body in their current state. “NeoCoV can use ACE2 receptors of bats, but it cannot use human ACE2 receptors unless a new mutation occurs,” he explained.
2. CSIR-IGIB Principal scientist Vinod Scaria also mentioned that the virus in its natural form cannot infect human beings and since there have been no human infections, there have been no deaths recorded due to NeoCoV as well.
3. Scaria also informed that NeoCoV is not a ‘new’ virus rather it has been known for years.
4. Mentioning its mutation patterns, he said that the virus can only bind with human receptors if any artificial mutations occur. “However such mutations are not naturally found in NeoCov,” Scaria said.
5. Dr Shahid Jameel, a virologist, mentioned MERS CoV that emerged in humans in 2012 through camels did not transmit very well.
6. According to Dr Jameel, NeoCoV is the closest genetic makeup to MERS CoV and NeoCoV is also not potentially fatal to human beings since it cannot bind with their ACE2 receptors as they do with those in bats.
7. However, Dr Jameel also mentioned that there are more than 3000 coronaviruses in bats and it’s beneficial to know more about them to avoid any spillovers in the future.
8. ICMR researcher Dr Sanjay Pujari also dismissed the claims made by the Chinese research paper saying that the virus cannot infect humans at present. “There will be strengthening of surveillance and research efforts to monitor its evolution at a global level,” He clarified.
9. The research paper also claimed that the virus has a mortality rate of one in every third infected person. A top scientist dismissed these claims and stated that the WHO statement on MERS mortality rate might be an overestimate.
10. The scientist quoted WHO saying, “until more is known about the disease, the case fatality rates are counted only among the laboratory-confirmed cases.”

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