HQ Team
February 24, 2025: Chinese virologists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have found another bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission similar to the Covid-19 virus.
The study, led by Shi Zhengli, who is known as the Bat Woman for her research on viruses from bats, found the new virus HKU5- CoV-2. The team says the virus is capable of entering cells by binding with the human angiotensin enzyme ACE2 receptor. It is the same receptor that caused the Covid-19.
The new virus comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).
“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]”, wrote Shi in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell. “This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk.”
The researchers found the HKU5-CoV-2 strain from a small subset of Pipistrellus bats from across China’s provinces. When the virus was isolated from the bat samples, it could infect human cells as well as artificially grown masses of cells or tissue that resembled miniaturised respiratory or intestinal organs.
Expert opinion
Experts say that until now, HKU5-CoV was not believed to be able to easily infect humans because they used a different type of mechanism to enter cells. However, this newly identified HKU5-CoV-2, has been shown to attach to human ACE-2 receptors, which raises concerns. “This virus can also bind to the ACE-2 receptors of other animals, meaning it could potentially spread between animals and humans,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, convener, scientific committee and past President, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Cochin.
Another expert said that this study serves as a reminder that there are many viruses in wildlife that pose pandemic risks, and also many mutations and recombinations are occurring, which ups the risks of infections from animals to humans.
“So far, there are no cases where HKU5-CoV-2 infection has been passed from bats to humans. Also, there are not many mutations in the virus, and the transferability risk is also low. The virus is less infectious and less pathogenic,” according to Dr Sanjeev Bagai, chairman, Nephron Clinic.
“While we still have limited information on the virus, gauging the available information, there seems to be no cause for immediate concern or threat,” he added.
Risk of human infection
It is still not clear how widespread this virus strain is and which animals, wild or domestic are playing host, and whether it is easily transmissible to humans.
Bats are known to host several coronaviruses, including the MERS and SARS-CoV-1. According to a study, thousands in Southeast Asia are infected by coronaviruses without being recognized as they cause mild or no symptoms.
Are more pandemics possible in the future? The answer is, more than likely. Air travel, more human contact, animal-carrying risk, and accidental spillover from research facilities as experiments with pathogens increase can be the causes.
