New Bat Virus Discovered In China: Know What Is HKU5-CoV-2

A new bat coronavirus, similar to the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, has been discovered in China. A Chinese team of virologists has found that this virus carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the new virus called HKU5-CoV-2 was found by a team of virologists led by Shi Zhengli, who is also known as the "batwomen" for her extensive research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute.

What is HKU5-CoV-2?

HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus belonging comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Scientists found that the new virus can bind to human ACE2, making it similar to SARS-CoV-2 and NL63 (a common cold virus).

The new virus called HKU5-CoV-2, discovered in bats in China, has the potential of infecting humans. However, researchers have said that more details on animal-to-human transmission are yet to be investigated.

"Bat merbecoviruses, which are phylogenetically related to MERS-CoV, pose a high risk of spillover to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts," the study said, as per Newsweek.

"Structural and functional analyses indicate that HKU5-CoV-2 has a better adaptation to human ACE2 than lineage 1 HKU5-CoV," the Chinese research team wrote in the study.

"Authentic HKU5-CoV-2 infected human ACE2-expressing cell lines and human respiratory and enteric organoids. This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk," they concluded.

The team also discovered that HKU5-CoV-2 was able to infect human cell cultures in the mini-human organ models the scientists used.

Is HKU5-CoV-2 dangerous?

Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the reaction to the study "overblown." He also mentioned people are immune to the SARS virus after the Covid-19 pandemic which may help reduce pandemic risk.

Also, the study itself has stated that the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2. "Risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated," the study mentioned.

Additionally, the HKU5-CoV-2 does not enter human cells like the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. While there are numerous coronaviruses out there, only a few can infect humans.

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