Scientists said that an emergency vaccine should be developed against the new virus called Khosta-2, similar to Covid-19, found in bats in the Russian region; otherwise, a deadly animal virus transmitted to humans could trigger another pandemic, he said.
According to the news that ScienceAlert bases on the research in the journal PLOS Pathogens, the new virus, called Khosta-2, was detected in the horseshoe bats in Russia’s Sochi National Park. It has been announced that this bat species also lives in Europe and North Africa. When researchers in Russia first stumbled upon Khosta-2, along with another bat virus, Khosta-1, in 2020, neither pathogen seemed particularly dangerous.
Neither was closely related to SARS-CoV-2. In fact, it was determined to come from a different lineage that lacked certain genes that researchers thought were essential to antagonize the human immune system. But upon closer inspection, experts identified some worrying features in Khosta-2.
