Scientists in Wuhan, the city where SARS-CoV-2 was discovered, are raising the alarm about the new NeoCoV coronavirus. If it has never infected humans yet, this dangerous virus present in bats in South Africa could mutate and infect us. Explanations.
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In two years, the coronavirus transformed our lives. More than 5.5 million people have died from this disease worldwide and it may well be that this figure is greatly underestimated. Since its appearance, the virus has already mutated several times, each time becoming more and more contagious. While the origins of the epidemic are still not perfectly clear and may never be, a question arises: is this virus the only one or are there other coronaviruses capable of passing from animals to humans?
With one mutation, NeoCoV could infect humans
One item, published by a Chinese team from Wuhan on January 25, 2022 (not yet peer-reviewed), alert on a new coronavirus, called NeoCoV. This virus which is spreading among the bat has been studied for more than 10 years. It would have the ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor of lungs of the bat via a subunit of the protein Spike. The ACE2 receptor is involved in the regulation of cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal functions. It actively participates in the regulation of arterial pressure. It is through this receiver that SARS-CoV-2 infects human lung cells.
The researchers then looked at the ability of the NeoCoV virus to penetrate human lung cells. In the current state of the virus, this is not possible. On the other hand, after a single mutation on the Spike protein, the authors observed the penetration of the virus into human cells. More worryingly, the infection could not be neutralized by human anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Which means that having been infected or vaccinated against Covid-19 would not protect against this virus.
Should we be worried?
NeoCoV is biologically close to MERS-CoV, 85% of their genome is common. This coronavirus was the cause of epidemics in 2012 and 2015 in the Middle East. Mortality from MERS-CoV was much greater than that from SARS-CoV-2, in the order of 35% of diagnosed cases. Furthermore, NeoCoV could be just as contagious as SARS-CoV-2. If it mutated and became able to spread among humans, it would therefore be extremely dangerous.
To conclude, NeoCoV is currently not able to jump from bats to humans. If he only needs one mutation to take the leap, no one can predict how he will mutate and when. Nevertheless, after the tragedy of SARS-CoV-2 which has been shaking the planet for two years, it is quite normal to closely monitor this type of virus, in order to be able to contain it as effectively as possible if it were to spread among humans. Man.
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