Even as the world is grappling with the Omicron variant of Coronavirus, there may be new, even more dangerous strain on the prowl.
Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus.
According to the researchers, NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV and the high transmission rate of the current coronavirus. MERS-CoV has a mortality rate of 33%, making it very deadly.
The researchers have further warned that the current Covid-19 vaccinations are inadequate to protect humans from any eventuality of the infections caused by these viruses.
The research paper published in the bioRxiv website, has not yet been peer-reviewed and has been released in preprint.
The NeoCoV virus has been previously linked with outbreaks in the Middle East 2012 and 2015.
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It is quite similar to Covid-19 causing coronavirus in many ways. NeoCoV was found in a population of bats in South Africa and has spread exclusively among these animals.