Scientists have found a new coronavirus in bats in Brazil with strong similarities to Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) which has killed approximately a third of people who have contracted the virus
Fears have been raised over a new strain of coronavirus found in bats which has a 72% likeness to deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Researchers have found the novel coronavirus in bats in Brazil which has strong similarities to Mers-CoV which was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and led to more than 850 deaths.
Mers has been identified in more than two dozen countries and approximately a third of Mers cases reported to the World Health Organisation have led to deaths. It is a zoonotic virus which means that it can be transmitted between animals and people while human-to-human transmission has also taken place, normally in medical centres.
And now researchers in Sao Paulo and Ceara working with Hong Kong University have found a coronavirus which resembles Mers. The spike protein which is used to attach to host cells has a 71.74% likeness to the Mers virus spike protein.
The study, published in Journal of Medical Virology, saw swabs taken from 423 bat species and found the new virus in the northeast of Brazil. It has similarities to coronavirus strains found in humans. So far scientists have not found out yet whether the virus can infect humans.
“Right now we aren’t sure it can infect humans, but we detected parts of the virus’s spike protein [which binds to mammalian cells to start an infection] suggesting potential interaction with the receptor used by Mers-CoV,” said study first author Bruna Stefanie Silvério.
Further research on the virus will take place in Hong Kong at high-biosecurity laboratories where the risk to humans will be analysed. “This monitoring helps identify circulating viruses and risks of transmission to other animals, and even to humans,” said Ricardo Durães-Carvalho, another author of the study. “Bats are important viral reservoirs and should therefore be submitted to continuous epidemiological surveillance.”
He added: “Our studies show the importance of making this type of analysis more systematic, optimised and integrated, with several sectors participating and generating data on unified platforms that can be used by health systems to monitor and even prevent epidemics and pandemics.”
The WHO says of Mers systems: “The clinical spectrum of MERS-CoV infection ranges from no symptoms (asymptomatic) or mild respiratory symptoms to severe acute respiratory disease and death.
“A typical presentation of MERS is fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is a common finding, but MERS patients may not always develop this condition.
“Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea, have also been reported. Severe illness can cause respiratory failure that requires mechanical ventilation or support in an intensive care unit.
“Older people, people with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic diseases such as renal disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes appear to be at greater risk of developing severe disease.”
There is no specific treatment available either for people with Mers. “No vaccine or specific treatment are currently available, however several MERS-CoV specific vaccines and treatments are in clinical development,” states the WHO. In the absence of MERS-specific therapeutics, treatment of MERS patients is supportive and based on the patient’s clinical condition.
“As a general precaution, anyone visiting farms, markets, barns, or other places where dromedary camels and other animals are present should practice general hygiene measures, including regular hand washing before and after touching animals, and should avoid contact with sick animals.”
