Pune: The first images of Coronavirus from India have been released after it was captured by a team of ICMR-NIV scientists in Pune.
The images were captured using a transmission electron microscope and have been published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.
The images of Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, are from the throat swab of the first laboratory confirmed case in India reported on January 30. The woman, among three students studying medicine in Wuhan in China, was diagnosed with Covid-19 after returning to India, reported IANS.
The image revealed the presence of stalk-like projections ending in round structures typical of a coronavirus particle.
“In summary, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from India detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus using TEM directly in a throat swab specimen confirmed by PCR…” the study said.
The gene sequencing of the samples from Kerala done at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune found that the virus was a 99.98 per cent match with the virus in Wuhan, says reports.
