KONTAN.CO.ID – JAKARTA. The origin of the new corona virus heartburn has long been a debate. However, new findings from a thesis show that a virus similar to the corona virus has been attacking humans since 2012 in China ..
Launch International Business Times, Dr Jonathan Latham and Dr Allison Wilson, virologists and molecular biologists, who translated the thesis of Dr Li Xu from Kun Ming Medical University in May 2013 revealed the findings.
In his thesis, Dr Li wrote that he had treated 6 sick people after cleaning bat droppings at the Mojiang Copper Mine in Yunnan Province in 2012. These people showed symptoms of high fever, dry cough, body aches, and dizziness.
All symptoms are similar to the clinical symptoms of people who have contracted the new coronavirus.
The same is true of how to treat it. Dr Li said in his thesis, miners were given ventilators, steroids and various other drugs. In fact, 3 out of 6 people who are sick are reported to have died.
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Dr Li then performed several tests when the mine workers showed no signs of progress. These tests include dengue, HIV and hepatitis. He also consulted with other specialists in China, including Dr Zhong Nanshan, the hero of the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Latham and Wilson said this could mean that 6 sick miners were something important. In addition, the causes of Covid-19 and SARS are similar.
Dr Li then sent a tissue sample of a diseased mining worker to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where researchers found an infection similar to the Chinese furous horseshoe bat used for the thesis.
At that time, Dr Shi Zhengli was involved in bat virus research at the Wuhan Lab. Dr. Shi’s research results showed that the RaTG13 virus or bat virus has similarities with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, as much as 96.2%.
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Latham and Wilson believe RaTG13 has developed into SARS-CoV-2 after infecting mine workers.
Edward Holmes, another virologist, thinks the 3.8% difference between RaTG13 and SARS-CoV-2 is quite important. It took 20-50 years of evolution to develop into a new species.
However, Latham and Wilson argue, viruses already have the right hosts to evolve.
