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Chinese scientists discover EIGHT never-before-seen viruses... and now they plan to experiment with them
- EXCL: Scientists found new pathogens in rodents on an isolated tropical island
- READ MORE: Fauci says he has nightmares about the 'next inevitable pandemic'
Chinese scientists have discovered never-before-seen viruses lurking on a tropical island — and warned they could infect humans.
Researchers tasked with preparing the world for future pandemic took almost 700 samples from rodents living in Hainan, just off China's southern coast.
Eight novel viruses — including one belonging to the same family as Covid — were uncovered in the project, funded by the Chinese Government.
Experts said the discovered pathogens had a 'high probability' of infecting humans should they ever cross the species barrier.
As a result, they called for further experiments on the viruses to determine exactly what their effects on humans could be.
These samples, which were categorised by specific rodent species and location on the island, were then sent for labs to be examined.
Analysis revealed a host of new 'novel' viruses, including one new coronavirus that the experts dubbed CoV-HMU-1.
CoV-HMU-1 was found to be a betacoronavirus, a sub-genre of coronaviruses which includes Covid.
The scientists also found several new pathogens in other groups of viruses.
These included two new pestiviruses, which are related to yellow fever and dengue, a new astrovirus, a family of viruses that cause infections like stomach bugs, two new parvoviruses, which can cause flu-like symptoms, and two new papillomaviruses, a family of pathogens that can cause genital warts and cancer in people.
