People must follow covid-19 protocol amid the emergence of NeoCov: Health experts
New Delhi: Amid the rising emergence of the new covid-19 variant ‘NeoCov’, the health experts advised people to follow the guideline and covid-19 protocol. The new virus NeoCov has become an area of concern at the global level amid the annoying Covid-19 pandemic.
The new strain of bat virus was identified in South Africa. WHO has dubbed as NeoCov is different from Covid-19 viruses and calls for more research and study.
Dr. Subhash Hira, professor of Global Health at the University of Washington-Seattle and an advisor to WHO-TDR-Geneva said, “NeoCov is named after Neoromicia, the species of bat that have been infected with another species of coronavirus. This is not SARS-CoV-2 or any of its variants. NeoCov is related to another bat virus, called Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus that appeared in an epidemic form in 2012 among camels and was transmitted easily to humans, and subsequently human-to-human, in Yemen, other Mediterranean countries, and South Korea. MERS killed about 768 people in different countries causing severe respiratory distress syndrome. Although no treatment or vaccines have yet been developed against MERS coronavirus so far, general treatment using monoclonal antibodies, interferon-alfa, and ribavirin did help to reduce deaths. The epidemic died off in 2012 when managed aggressively as a zoonotic disease along the same lines as the bird flu and SARS of 2003,”
Further, he added “Due to the structural similarities of NeoCov and MERS, a high death rate is being extrapolated for NeoCov by some scientists. South Africa is once again on the target because NeoCov was isolated from bats in coves outside Pretoria by Chinese scientists belonging to Wuhan laboratories. While NeoCov is being closely monitored by WHO and member countries, global scare keeps emerging due to the current environment that is sensitive about bat viruses causing zoonotic diseases. We need to keep our guard up against all emerging infectious diseases, and be watchful of animals being used for dietary value.”
Dr. Wiqar Shaikh, professor of Medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir J J Group of Hospitals, said “The Chinese researchers claim that NeoCov is a deadly virus and combines the high mortality rate of MERS (1 in every 3 infected people dies) and the high transmission rates of Covid-19.”
(_Vinayak Barot)
