The family of coronaviruses has just (again) grown: after SARS-CoV (which was responsible for an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003) and SARS-CoV-2 (which is at the origin of Covid-19 ), now here is Khosta-2.
Discovered near the Sochi National Park (in Russia), in 2020, the Khosta-2 virus did not initially worry scientists who later considered that it was incapable of transmitting to humans. But in a new study, researchers at Washington State University in the United States say Khosta-2 could infect human cells, at least in the lab.
To do this, the Khosta-2 virus would use the same strategy as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus: the “spike” protein and the RBD proteins that have the ability to bind to the ACE2 protein on the surface of our cells. And for good reason: Khosta-2 and SARS-CoV-2 belong to the same subfamily of coronaviruses: sarbecoviruses.
A coronavirus that is not neutralized by anti-Covid-19 vaccines
Additional problem: According to the American researchers (who published their work in the scientific journal PLoS Pathogens), Khosta-2 would be able to resist the antibodies generated by the anti-Covid-19 vaccination.
“We do not want to scare anyone by saying that this is a totally vaccine-resistant virus.said the lead author of this study.However, it is worrying to know that there are viruses (…)
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