NeoCov Covid variant: Have Chinese scientists just found the deadliest of all strains?

Even as the world is grappling with the Omicron variant of Coronavirus, there may be new, even more dangerous strain on the prowl.

Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus.

According to the researchers, NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV and the high transmission rate of the current coronavirus. MERS-CoV has a mortality rate of 33%, making it very deadly.

The researchers have further warned that the current Covid-19 vaccinations are inadequate to protect humans from any eventuality of the infections caused by these viruses.

The research paper published in the bioRxiv website, has not yet been peer-reviewed and has been released in preprint.

The NeoCoV virus has been previously linked with outbreaks in the Middle East 2012 and 2015.

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It is quite similar to Covid-19 causing coronavirus in many ways. NeoCoV was found in a population of bats in South Africa and has spread exclusively among these animals.