As a group of Chinese researchers flagged concerns about NeoCov, claiming this new virus has a latent potential to mutate and penetrate the human population, two Bangladeshi experts think the fear is illogical and there is no need to panic.

The experts said people should not draw any conclusion as it is yet to be studied how threatening this virus can be for humans.

"It will be illogical to be worried about NeoCov. Because, the speculation by the Chinese researchers is a hypothesis, not yet real," Arifa Akram, an assistant professor of virology at the National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The World Health Organisation on Friday also pointed out that the potential of the virus to pose a risk for humans would require further study.

The Chinese scientists said NeoCov, a close relative of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), was discovered in a bat population in South Africa and is currently spreading only among animals, reports Indian news portal Livemint.

The focus of their study, yet to be peer reviewed, is based on a simple theory that if NeoCoV picks up a particular mutation only then it could use the same pathway to infect humans as the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

They also hinted infection with NeoCov could not be cross-neutralised by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.

But Khondoker Mehedi Akram, senior research associate at the University of Sheffield in the UK, said the NeoCov virus still does not possess the capability of infecting human beings.

Structurally, it is a hybrid of MERS CoV and SARS CoV2 viruses, which only can infect bats, not humans, he added.

The Chinese researchers, however, claimed that a minor change in the spike protein of NeoCov will enable it to infect humans.

"Only such mutation can initiate another epidemic. But prior knowledge of NeoCov will be helpful to contain the virus unlike Covid-19," said Mehedi.