More than 5 million people died due to the coronavirus. With the Covid-19 variant Omicron, the virus continues to infect and take lives, the rate of transmission of which has increased exponentially. While we still haven’t been able to figure out exactly where and how the virus, which has not fallen off the agenda with its variants lately, came out with a very scary news. Researchers have discovered three novel coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2.
CAN BE CONNECTED TO HUMAN CELLS
According to the study published in the journal Nature; The novel viruses BANAL-103, BANAL-236 and BANAL-52 discovered in bats in Laos bear genomic similarities to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which caused the global pandemic in 2019. The study notes that the novel coronaviruses show certain similarities in the key area of the spike protein, which allows the virus to bind to human cells.
CAN THREAT HUMAN HEALTH
Stating that this similarity means that the viruses in question potentially threaten human health, experts underline the need for more studies before reaching a definitive conclusion.
Marc Eloit, head of the pathogen discovery laboratory at Institut Pasteur, said that the presence of these viruses discovered in the bat animal reservoir supports the theory that SARS-CoV-2 may originate from bats living in the vast karst mountainous regions of the United States.