It is a virus close to Covid-19 that has just been discovered. According to a she studies published by Washington State University in the journal Pathogenic PLoS, American scientists have discovered a virus from the same family as Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid, in bats in Russia. This virus, called Khosta-2, would be able to infect humans, escape antibodies and vaccines against Covid-19.
Covid-19 vaccines ineffective
This novel coronavirus was discovered in bats in Russia in 2020 and posed no threat to humans, scientists say. But when the researchers carried out further analyzes, they found that the virus could infect human cells in the laboratory.
Even more worrying, Khosta-2 appears to be escaping Covid-19 antibodies and vaccines. “It is worrying to see that viruses circulate in nature that can bind to human receptors and are not neutralized by current vaccine responses,” he points out. Michael LetkoWashington State University professor, lead author of the study.
No severe form in man
However, the researcher wants to be reassuring and indicates that Khosta-2 does not appear to cause severe forms in humans for the time being. But that could change as Khosta-2 begins to circulate more widely and mix with SARS-CoV-2 genes. “The concern is that Sras-Cov-2 could spread to animals infected with Khosta-2, recombine and then infect human cells. They may be resistant to vaccine immunity and have more virulent factors,” he explains.
According to Michael Letko, this finding is sobering and highlights the need to develop new vaccines that target not only known variants of Sars-CoV-2, such as Omicron. “These viruses are really widespread everywhere and will continue to be a problem for humans in general,” he said.
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