New Bat Coronavirus Strain Found By Chinese Scientist in Wuhan, Could It Infect Humans?

Right when the world was recovering from all the new kinds of diseases, the researchers at the Chinse lab accused of leaking the COVID-19 virus discovered a new coronavirus in bats that matches the one that led to a worldwide outbreak in 2020, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Cell.

The study talks about the Merbecoviruses which comprises of four viral species: MERS-related coronavirus, Tylonycterisbat coronavirus HKU4, Pipistrellusbat coronavirus HKU5, and Hedgehog coronavirus 1. However, the study also mentions that the potential human spillover risk is yet to be investigated from the animal marbecovirus.

What Does It All Mean?

The bat virus, which is referred to as the HKU5-CoV2 uses the same human receptor as the SARS-CoV-2, which was a strain of the coronavirus which caused COVID-19. While the human infections and spillover is yet to be studied, the newly discovered bat virus strain can infect cells by binding to proteins found throughout a mammal, notes the study. The same is led by virologist Dr Shi Zhengli, who is also notoriously known as the "bat lady" reports the New York Post.

The researchers have also found that the bat virus actually belongs to the same coronavirus lineage that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which is a severe and often lethal respiratory illness. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), it is a viral respiratory disease caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

This strain is identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong and could bind a human host by attaching it to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor which was used in the COVID-19, SARS and MERS.

Can This New Bat Strain Infect Humans?

While the human spillover is yet to be studied, the concern is that it works the same way as all the other coronaviruses. This means, that there are high chances that it may too infect human beings. As per the WHO, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause various diseases, including MERS, COVID-19, and also Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS. Thus, this strain also poses the same threat.

A Look Back

The first case of COVID-19 in humans was reported in Wuhan in November 2019. As per the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it killed more than 1.2 million Americans. While vaccines against COVID-19 are available, the recent changes in the US health sector and removing the vaccination mandate may put more people at risk of getting the new virus.

For the Wuhan lab, which is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, it has long been the center of lab leak theories for the worldwide pandemic, though China has denied any such connections, as per the reports. The South China Morning Post reports that there is no consensus yet on the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus, however, some studies do suggest its origin in bats, which jumped to humans making them the immediate animal host. However, all such claims, along with the claims of lab leak have been denied by Zhengli.