OREANDA-NEWS The NeoCoV virus found in South Africa has been around for some time and is related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-CoV. However, it has now become known that NeoCov is able to enter the human body by clinging to the ACE 2 enzyme, similar to the current coronavirus. «Thus, NeoCoV combines the high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (on average, every third infected person dies) and the high rate of spread of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus», the report says.

Meanwhile, the Russian scientific center Vector reported that there is no talk about the appearance of a new coronavirus that is ready to actively spread among people. «The risks identified by Chinese experts are of a potential nature and require further research», Vector said.

Earlier, scientists reported the discovery of the NeoCov virus in South Africa, detected in populations of bats and other wild animals living in Russia, the United States and other countries, including Southeast Asia and Europe. According to experts, if contacts between humans and wild animals occur more often, pathogens may become sources of new pandemics in the future, as they are able to mutate and actively penetrate, including into human cells.