New coronavirus variant identified in Brazil

Researchers from the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Ceará, in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong, have identified a new coronavirus variant in bats, similar to the one that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). This marks the first case in South America. The discovery was published on Tuesday (Feb. 18) in the Journal of Medical Virology in the United States.

They identified seven coronaviruses in samples from five bats examined by the Central Health Laboratory of Ceará (Lacen) in Fortaleza. The bats belong to two different species: one insectivorous and the other frugivorous, feeding on fruit, vegetables, and legumes.

At this stage of the research, it is unclear whether the new coronavirus can infect humans. Although it shares some characteristics with COVID-19, MERS is not considered a high-risk disease for the global population and has little chance of reaching a pandemic level.

The coronavirus responsible for MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, causing over 800 deaths across 27 countries.

The study is part of the project Bats: Epidemiological Surveillance, High-Resolution Phylodynamics, and the Search and Design of Peptides of Biotechnological Interest in Emerging and Re-Emerging Viruses, ed by the São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP).

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