Omicron Covid is likely to have originated in mice, according to a new study.
Conducted by experts at the Chinese Centre for Disease and Control and Prevention, research suggested that the variant may have come from the rodents.
Scientists around the world have been working to uncover the source of Omicron.
The popular theory involves the mutated virus infected an animal with mutations occurring as the virus passes throughout the animal population.
Throughout history, mice have been notorious carries of disease with the study seemingly confirming the link between animals and key mutations included in the now dominant strain of coronavirus.
The findings, published in KeAi’s Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity, investigated the true source of Omicron by analysing the the proteins of the virus.
Professor Jianguo Xu, the leader from the China CDC, said: “Our study calculated the average number of mutations in the five VOCs and investigated the key mutations in the viral S protein, where the infection originates.
"We found that the Omicron variant contains mutations at five key sites of the protein: K417, E484, Q493, Q498, and N501.
“This mutation profile shows that the virus has adapted to infect the cells of mice.
plain to them exactly why it was that they were breathless. Often X-rays and CT scans show no abnormalities.
"In addition, the time-scaled phylogenetic tree shows that the Omicron and Gamma lineages were likely circulating in mid-2020, which supports the hypothesis that Omicron may have evolved in a non-human animal species.
"We believe that the coronavirus slowly accumulated mutations over time in mice before it was transmitted back to humans by reverse zoonotic."
“These findings suggest that researchers should focus on SARS-CoV-2 variants isolated from wild animals, especially rodents. If Omicron is determined to have been derived from mice, the implications of it circulating among non-human hosts will pose new challenges in the prevention and control of the pandemic.”
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