New bat coronavirus sparks pandemic fears – as scientists warn it’s ‘cousin’ kills a THIRD of its victims

A NEWLY discovered bat coronavirus found in China has raised pandemic fears, experts warn.

Named HKU5-CoV-2, the virus was identified by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the centre of the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a lab.

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Coronaviruses are often found in bats[/caption]

Research published in Cell journal revealed the bug can enter cells using human ACE2 – the same receptor that played a critical role in the devastating spread of Covid-19.

This means it can jump straight from bats to humans without another animal in between, unlike most other viruses.

This extra adaptation is surprising because, despite both being coronaviruses, they come from separate branches of the family tree.

HKU5-CoV-2 instead, belongs to the merbecovirus lineage, making it a cousin of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), also called camel flu.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), camel flu is less infectious than Covid, but it is more deadly, killing a third of known patients.

“There is the potential for this new virus to spillover to human, like previous coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr Gary R McLean, a research fellow at the Imperial College London, who was not involved in the study

“Interestingly, this newly discovered virus lineage (HKU5-CoV-2), despite evolving in bats, can effectively use human entry receptor protein ACE2 for infection of human cells and tissues.

Prof Gary added that, so far, there is no “evidence” that HKU5-CoV-2 can infect people – the paper is based on tests in a laboratory, showing the bugs “potential”.

“Hopefully the Chinese authorities now have good surveillance systems in place and the laboratories work to rigid safety standards that minimise the risk of spillover occurring,” he said.

The Chinese researchers – led by “batwoman” Shi Zheng-Li at the – also said that HKU5-CoV-2 does not appear to be as good at entering the ACE2 receptor as Sars-Cov-2 is. 

Prof Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology, from the University of Reading, took this one step further and said we shouldn’t get “too hung up” on how the virus spreads.

“This is just one part of the way the virus interacts with our bodies; things are much more complicated,” he said.

“The finding of another bat coronavirus that gains entry human and animal cells by unlocking them in the same way as Covid-19 is naturally of concern and will worry people, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising. 

“This way of accessing cells is probably far more common than we realise, and the more scientists look for these things, the more examples they’re likely to find.”

What will trigger the next pandemic?

Although the new research contains some pandemic-associated trigger works, Prof Paul Hunter, an expert in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said we shouldn’t worry too much – at least not yet.

“We do need to remain vigilant about all coronaviruses,” he said.

“At some point a coronavirus will trigger another pandemic, maybe not in the next few decades.

“When that does happen will it be  HKU5-CoV-2? Again probably not but it may be.”

The WHO has previously listed MERS and Covid as two of several diseases – alongside the mysterious disease X – that could spark a pandemic, but for which there is no specific treatment or vaccine.