The identified pathogen is a close relative of the Middle East fever MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). The process of entry into cells is similar to SARS-CoV-2.
According to the researchers, in the event of a mutation and spread among people, the identified coronavirus will not be affected by antibodies MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. This is stated in a preprint published on the BioRxiv portal.
Chinese scientists believe that the spread of viruses belonging to this group must be carefully monitored and studied.
At the beginning of the month, information appeared about the identification of a new strain of coronavirus - a hybrid of "Delta" and "Omicron", but health experts suggested that this was a laboratory error. At the same time, the director of the center Gamalei of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Gintsburg speaks of a high probability of the appearance of more dangerous covid mutations due to the rapid spread of Omicron.