New Coronavirus HKU5-CoV-2 In Bats Can Infect Human Cells Just Like

But researchers say the pathogen’s potential to trigger a pandemic “should not be exaggerated”.

The new coronavirus binds to the enzyme ACE2.Image credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have detected a new coronavirus in bats that is capable of entering human cells using the exact same mechanism as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.However, while this finding implies the obvious possibility of a spillover to human populations, the study authors point out that the new pathogen appears less virulent than that which caused the recent pandemic.

strain],” write the study authors.To determine how much of a threat the virus poses to us, the researchers examined the pathogen’s ability to enter cultured human cells. Experiments revealed that the new coronavirus successfully invaded human cells that expressed ACE2 on their surface, but could not access those that were engineered to lack this crucial enzyme. Such a finding is concerning as it suggests that HKU5-CoV-2 operates via the same mechanism as SARS-CoV-2.