Scientists has discovered a new coronavirus in Brazilian bats, and it has shown a striking resemblance to the MERS-CoV.
The scientists have found a new varient of COVID in the bats in Brazil. However, its risks to humans remain under wraps but the findings have sparked concerns and prompted investigations into the risk posed by the virus.
Researchers from Sao Paulo or Ceará, working along with colleagues from Hong Kong University (HKU), discovered that it shares about 72 per cent of its genetic sequence with the Mers-CoV genome.
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The spike protein, allowing the virus to attach to host cells, revealed a 71.74 per cent similarity to that of the Mers virus.
The study published in the Journal of Medical revealed that the researchers found up to seven coronaviruses from five different bat species in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Another virus has been identified exhibiting high similarities to Mers-related coronaviruses discovered in both camels and humans.
Ricardo Durães-Carvalho, a study author stated, "This monitoring helps identify circulating viruses and risks of transmission to other animals, and even to humans."
Notably, genetic recombination has been found, showing the rapid evolution of viruses. The findings highlight the important genetic diversity of coronaviruses and outline the recent recombination events among bat viruses in Brazil.
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