A team of scientists discovered three new coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2. These three viruses, said the scientists, have the potential to carry risks to human health. Scientists from the National University of Laos and the Pasteur du Laos Institute have published their findings. As described, these scientists have found that viruses named BANAL-103, BANAL-236 and BANAL-52 have genome similarities to SARS-CoV-2, the Corona virus that is causing the current global pandemic. The novel coronavirus exhibits specific similarities in the key domain of the spike protein that allows the virus to bind to host cells. The observations made by the scientists led them to note that these three coronaviruses can enter human cells by utilizing the same receptors as SARS-CoV-2.
"The presence of the virus found in this bat animal reservoir supports the theory that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated in bats living in the vast karst plateau of the Indochina peninsula, which spans Laos, Vietnam and China," said the Head of Pathogen Discovery. Laboratory at the Pasteur Marc Eloit Institute.
He added that the results suggest that other related viruses may represent a risk to human health. Moreover, the detection of the new Corona virus in bats reinforces the theory that the pandemic that caused the Corona virus originated in animals. Does this mean that the new Corona virus will trigger a new wave of pandemics around the world? Hope not. The study comes as scientists around the world remain divided over the origins of Covid-19, with some sticking to the theory that SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats and then jumped onto an intermediate animal, most likely a pangolin, before infecting humans. Another theory suggests that the outbreak started due to a laboratory leak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases of the disease were reported in late 2019. After sending a fact-finding mission to Wuhan last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that the laboratory leak was 'very serious'. impossible', with WHO experts judging that the virus was transmitted to humans from animals that may have consumed bats. In a separate development in 2021, US intelligence provided President Joe Biden with a report on the origin of the new coronavirus, but was unable to conclude whether the virus was transmitted from animals to humans in a natural process, or originated in a Chinese laboratory. China itself has repeatedly denied the lab leak theory.
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