Russia (bbabo.net), - NeoCov, a new coronavirus, a close relative of the causative agent of the Middle East fever MERS, has been detected in South Africa.

While it is dangerous only for bats. But, according to a study on bioRxiv (a free electronic archive of scientific articles and preprints on biology), just one mutation in its genome is enough to make it dangerous to humans.

NeoCov uses the ACE2 receptor to enter bat lung cells. Similarly, the infamous SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, enters the lungs of a person.

According to scientists, while the NeoCov virus cannot penetrate human cells. However, if one point mutation appears in its genome, it will already be able to infect human cells.

The danger and unpredictability of NeoCov is that it binds to the ACE2 receptor in a different way than the COVID-19 pathogen does. Therefore, neither antibodies nor protein molecules will protect against this coronavirus. And this can make the pathogen especially dangerous for humanity.

Now dangerous coronaviruses are present in populations of bats and other wild animals in the United States, Cambodia, Switzerland and other countries.

bbabo.Net