China created a new deadly coronavirus-like virus that is fatal to mice, it has emerged.
Doctors trained by China's military created their own version of the "pangolin coronavirus" and tested it on mice, a paper published on bioRxiv claimed.
Studies found pangolins are the intermediate hosts that adapted the SARS-CoV-2 and represented a significant evolutionary link in the path of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus into Covid-19.
The experts discovered that all four mice given the virus, known as GX_P2V, lost significant weight within five days of infection. The mice also became lethargic and their eyes turned white before they died from the infection.
All of the mice died just eight days after being infected. Post-mortem examinations found the virus spread to the mice's brains, eyes and lungs.
The scientists warned that the virus could potentially infect humans. They stated: "This finding suggested that severe brain infection during the later stages of infection may be the key cause of death in these mice."
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing that a SARS-CoV-2 related pangolin coronavirus can cause 100 percent mortality in hACE2 mice, suggesting a risk for GX_P2V to spill over into humans.
"Due to the propensity of coronaviruses to undergo adaptive mutation during passage culture, we cloned and analysed mutations in GX_P2V, focusing specifically on the pathogenicity of the cloned strains."
The scientists: "The high pathogenicity mechanism of GX_P2V C7 in hACE2 mice, in the absence of the wild-type GX_P2V control, requires further investigation."
Scientists are planning more tests with the virus found in nature instead of one made in a lab.
If you're worried about this spreading to humans, then why in the hell are you messing with it?