An American study found that a virus similar to the emerging corona virus, which was discovered in bats in Russia in 2020, can infect human cells in the laboratory, so how dangerous is it?
The study was conducted by researchers led by Michael Letko, assistant professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Global Health at Washington State University, and was published in the journal PLoS Pathogens , and was written by Time and Le Figaro . .
Scientists found a group of corona viruses similar to the emerging corona virus, its scientific name "SARS-CoV-2", and it was initially discovered in bats in Russia in 2020, and the name of the virus is "Khosta-2". .
Khosta-2 can infect human cells
At the time, scientists did not believe that the “Khosta-2” virus posed a threat to people, but when members of the Letko team conducted a more accurate analysis they found that the virus could infect human cells in the laboratory, the first warning sign that it could become a potential threat to public health.
A related virus was also found in bats from Russia called "Khosta-1", but it was not able to enter human cells easily, and the "Khosta-2" virus was able to do so.
Angiotensin converting enzyme 2
The “Khosta-2” virus binds to the “angiotensin converting enzyme 2” (ACE2) that the emerging corona virus uses to penetrate human cells.
The discovery of many animal Sarpic viruses
The researchers said that efforts to determine the origins of SARS and "Covid-19" led to the discovery of many animal Sarpic viruses, most of which are distantly related to known human pathogens and do not infect human cells.
Sarbec viruses are a subgenus of the "Betacoronavirus", and include the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), the "SARS-Cove-2" virus that causes COVID-19, and the Justa-2 virus. and the nCoV22 virus.
The researchers found that the Khosta-2 virus was able to use the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 to facilitate cell entry.
It was also found that the "Khosta-2" virus was resistant to monoclonal antibodies to the emerging corona virus, and the serum from individuals who had been vaccinated against the corona virus, that is, the serum that carries antibodies to the corona virus.
"Our findings also show that SARBIC viruses circulating in wildlife outside Asia also pose a threat to global health and the ongoing vaccine campaigns against the emerging corona virus," the researchers said.
Letko said - according to "Time" - "We do not want to scare anyone and say that this is a virus that is completely resistant to vaccines, but it is worrying that there are viruses that circulate in nature and have these characteristics, and they can bind to human receptors and are not neutralized by current vaccine responses."
The good news: we should not worry about "Khosta-2"
The good news is that Letko's study shows that like the Omicron strain, Khosta-2 does not appear to contain genes that suggest it can cause serious illness in humans.
In her report, which was published by the French newspaper " Le Figaro ", writer Jeanne Senchal asked: Should we fear a new pandemic due to the "Khosta-2" virus? And the answer is: No.
The writer pointed out that Professor Antoine Flaholt, an epidemiologist and director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, believes that there is no need for concern at the present time, and no case has been discovered in humans.
And the epidemiologist explains that the discovery of the “Khosta-2” virus is “the result of the monitoring - which was reinforced after the Covid-19 epidemic - for bats that are likely to carry this type of virus.”
The writer reported that bat monitoring has been enhanced since the emergence of "SARS-Cove-2", to identify potential reservoirs and intermediate hosts for this virus.
“All mammals and every living kingdom, if I may say so, carry viruses,” Professor Flaholt said. For example, a liter of uncontaminated seawater contains millions of viruses, but these viruses are not pathogenic.
The author concludes the report that we hear about these viruses not because they multiply, but because of increased surveillance.
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