NeoCov

Why in news?

• Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)-coronavirus.

About NeoCov:

• NeoCoV is a coronavirus that was first identified in 2011. It is discovered in a bat population in South Africa and is currently spreading only among animals.
• It was identified in a species of bats known as Neoromicia, which is where the name NeoCoV was derived from.
• These bats are commonly known as aloe bats and are distributed in the Afro-Malagasy region.
• Scientists find that the NeoCoV does not infect human ACE2 at present, which means it cannot infect humans yet.
• NeoCoV shares an 85% similarity to MERS-CoV in the genome sequence, making it the closest known relative of MERS-CoV.
• NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Add ons:

• NeoCoV is not a new coronavirus, and it – along with MERS – belongs to a distinctly different genera of coronaviruses known as merbecovirus.
• This is the type to which the other common cold coronaviruses HKU1 and OC43 belong.

PRACTICE QUESTION

With reference to NeoCov virus, recently seen in news, consider the following statements:

1. It is discovered in a bat population in South Africa and is currently spreading only among animals.

2. The virus has a latent potential to mutate and penetrate the human population

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer