A new coronavirus with the potential to spread among humans has been discovered by Chinese researchers.
Geplaatst: 23 feb 2025 22:10
A new coronavirus with the potential to spread among humans has been discovered by Chinese researchers.
A team led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as 'Batwoman' for her work on coronaviruses, detected the new virus, HKU5-CoV-2, in bats in China.
HKU5-CoV-2 is similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that sparked the global Covid-19 pandemic, and has a higher potential than other coronaviruses of infecting people because it infiltrates human cells called ACE2 the same way Covid does.
While there are hundreds of coronaviruses in the wild, only a few can infect humans, including SARS, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
The new HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus belonging to the merbecovirus group and is closely related to MERS.
In experiments carried out in the lab, the scientists analyzed HKU5-CoV-2 and found it was able to infect human cell cultures in the model organs.
The scientists published their newest research in the journal Cell, and said: '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 research was conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is at the center of the lab-leak theory. The theory claims Covid-19 was manufactured in a Chinese lab and accidentally leaked to the public.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... 0&ito=1490
A team led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as 'Batwoman' for her work on coronaviruses, detected the new virus, HKU5-CoV-2, in bats in China.
HKU5-CoV-2 is similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that sparked the global Covid-19 pandemic, and has a higher potential than other coronaviruses of infecting people because it infiltrates human cells called ACE2 the same way Covid does.
While there are hundreds of coronaviruses in the wild, only a few can infect humans, including SARS, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
The new HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus belonging to the merbecovirus group and is closely related to MERS.
In experiments carried out in the lab, the scientists analyzed HKU5-CoV-2 and found it was able to infect human cell cultures in the model organs.
The scientists published their newest research in the journal Cell, and said: '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 research was conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is at the center of the lab-leak theory. The theory claims Covid-19 was manufactured in a Chinese lab and accidentally leaked to the public.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... 0&ito=1490