Mugdha Das

China discovers a new bat coronavirus that can infect humans
 

Digital desk: A novel bat coronavirus with the potential for animal-to-human transmission, comparable to the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, has been found in China. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the new virus, HKU5-CoV-2, was discovered by a team of virologists led by Shi Zhengli, the renowned scientist known as "Batwoman" for her lifetime work in coronaviruses, particularly at the Wuhan Institute, which has been at the center of the theory that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak, which China has repeatedly denied.

The Chinese researchers discovered that the new virus is similar to SARS CoV-2, the virus that caused the Covid pandemic, because it can invade human cells called ACE2 in the same way that Covid did, according to the source.

HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also contains the virus that causes Middle East respiratory sickness (MERS). Researchers discovered that the novel virus can link to human ACE2, making it similar to SARS-CoV-2 and NL63 (a common cold virus).

HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes as well as human intestinal and airway models in laboratory trials.

The Chinese researchers discovered that HKU5-CoV-2 does not enter human cells as easily as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

Another study conducted earlier this month by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle and Wuhan University found that, while the HKU5 strain could attach to bat and other mammalian ACE2 receptors, "efficient" human binding was not seen.

It is unclear whether this discovery will produce any sickness in humans.