The existence of a type of coronavirus previously unknown to science, which could have caused an outbreak of pneumonia several years ago, is quite likely, according to scientists in the United States.

According to Science magazine, scientists led by Anastasia Vlasova from Ohio State University note that 7 types of coronaviruses are currently known. The new species in question could potentially provoke pneumonia in Malaysia in 2017-2018: during this period, 8 cases were reported among children.

The similarities in the genomes of the studied viruses suggest that children could have contracted the virus through dogs. At the same time, scientists have not yet come to a final conclusion on this issue, since they are not sure that the type of coronavirus he is studying is really related to the cases mentioned. In addition, to date, they have managed to achieve the survival of the studied coronavirus in the cells of a dog, but not a person.

Similar studies are being carried out by scientists from the University of Florida: researchers have put forward the theory that the outbreak of pneumonia recorded in Haiti in 2014-2015 could have been transmitted to people from pigs that had previously been diagnosed with the coronavirus under study. However, even in this case, experts find it difficult to answer the question of the possibility of survival of this virus outside the pig population.

According to scientists, both types of coronavirus can be dangerous due to the ability of the virus to mutate. In their opinion, even a theoretically possible threat is already a sufficient reason for vaccination among vulnerable species.