A NeoCoV strain of coronavirus discovered in the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) could potentially be transmitted from animals to humans in the future. This was warned by Chinese scientists in a published on January 26 on the portal bioRxiv article.
A new strain from South Africa is similar to the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2, found in bats and has a latent ability to mutate. The result of the mutation may be the ability to penetrate into the cells of not only animals, but also humans.
“In this study, we unexpectedly found that NeoCoV and its closest relative PDF-2180-CoV can effectively use some types of angiotensin-converting enzyme in some types of bats (ACE2) and, less favorably, human ACE2 to enter the body,” reported scientists.
They clarified that a certain mutation is necessary for the virus to interact with humans, and so far it threatens only bats. At the same time, experts emphasized that the nature of NeoCoV remains largely mysterious.
Earlier in January, a new study by scientists at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine found that the Omicron strain is more resistant to earlier variants of the coronavirus and can linger on plastic surfaces and human skin for longer. The experts analyzed the differences in resistance to environmental influences between strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus of the Wuhan type and all variants that appeared later.
On January 7, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that the Omicron strain of the coronavirus could not have come from humans, as previously thought, but from mice. Scientists believe that rodents initially contracted COVID-19 from humans. After that, presumably, within a year in the body of mice, the virus began to mutate. This led to the “birth” of a new strain of “Omicron”, which has already infected people.
A large-scale vaccination campaign continues in Russia. Citizens can get vaccinated for free. Six anti-coronavirus drugs have been registered in the country: Sputnik V, Sputnik Light, KoviVac, EpiVacCorona, EpiVacCorona-N, and the Sputnik M vaccine for adolescents.
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