Notably, antibodies against Covid-19 may not protect individuals from new strains of the Corona virus.
The new strain of the Corona virus named NeoCoV originated in South Africa. (Illustrative image – Getty Images).
Chinese scientists have recently warned about the potential threat posed by a new strain of the Corona virus that can be transmitted from animals to humans and cannot be “cross-neutralized” by antibodies targeting Covid-19.
According to RT, a research team primarily based at Wuhan University has discovered a new strain of the Corona virus named NeoCoV that originated in South Africa. They believe that NeoCoV and its “close relative” PDF-2180-CoV can effectively use certain types of ACE2 enzymes to invade human cells. This new NeoCoV strain currently only infects bats.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, first identified in Hubei Province and later causing the Covid-19 pandemic, also uses ACE2 to enter the human body.
A report published on the scientific portal bioRxiv indicates that NeoCoV cannot be cross-immunized by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.
While acknowledging that the nature of NeoCoV remains a mystery, Chinese scientists have warned about the potential biosafety threat of this virus strain to humans, given its high mortality rate and transmission speed.
Other recent studies conducted by Chinese scientists have indicated that the “ancestor” of the Omicron variant—which has caused a new wave of infections worldwide—was transmitted from humans to mice and quickly accumulated beneficial mutations, subsequently jumping back to humans.
