Covid-19 like new bat virus HKU5-CoV discovered at Wuhan lab, can enter humans using same gateway as coronavirus

In a significant development, scientists at Wuhan Institute of Virology in China have discovered a new coronavirus in bats that can enter human’s body using the same gateway as the virus that causes Covid-19.

This virus hasn’t been detected in humans yet. It has only been identified in a laboratory.

About new bat coronavirus

According to a paper published on Tuesday in the journal Cell, the study, led by Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, does raise the possibility that this new bat virus could spread from animals to humans.

“We report the discovery and isolation of a distinct lineage (lineage 2) of HKU5-CoV, which can utilise not only bat ACE2 but also human ACE2 and various mammalian ACE2 orthologs [– genes found in different species with a common origin],” the team of virologists headed by Shi said in the paper.

The latest discovery is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong.

The new virus comes from the merbecovirus subgenus. It is able to bind to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, to infect cells.

The scientists said when the virus was isolated from bat samples it could infect human cells as well as artificially grown masses of cell or tissue that resembled miniaturised respiratory or intestinal organs.

The new bat coronavirus infects cells by binding to a protein found throughout the bodies of humans and other mammals. It’s closely related to the coronavirus family that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Around 2,600 cases of MERS were reported globally from 2012 through May 2024.

Controversial Wuhan Institute

Wuhan Institute of Virology is known for its work on bat coronaviruses.

Earlier in February, China had said that its Wuhan lab which faced allegations of leaking the Covd-19 virus, causing the global pandemic, has never engaged in “gain-of-function studies” on coronavirus amid allegations that USAID has funded the study of the infectious disease.

“China has also made it clear more than once that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has never engaged in gain-of-function studies of coronavirus,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun had said.

According to recent American media reports, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) used taxpayers’ money to fund gain-of-function studies at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, which may have caused the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the deaths of millions around the world.

Trump has shut down the USAID work that was not aligned with American strategic interests and wastes money.