Researchers at the Chinese laboratory that has been under scrutiny for allegedly being the source of the COVID-19 outbreak have now made a discovery of a new coronavirus in bats, which closely resembles the virus responsible for the global pandemic that began in 2020, according to a recent study.
The virus, found at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has the potential for animal-to-human transmission. However, it has not yet been detected in any living human, as noted in a study published in the scientific journal Cell.
This bat virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, uses the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
According to the study, led by the infamous virologist Dr. Shi Zhengli, known as the “bat lady,” this newly discovered bat virus has the ability to infect cells by binding to proteins present in the human body and other mammals.
The study emphasizes that further research is needed to determine if this virus can transfer to humans, with the potential for such a spillover still requiring investigation.
Researchers explained that the bat virus is part of the same coronavirus family that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a severe and frequently fatal respiratory illness that can spread from camels to humans through direct physical contact.
MERS cases are commonly reported in regions around the Arabian Peninsula, including countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, as detailed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The first confirmed instance of COVID-19 in humans was reported in Wuhan in November 2019. According to the CDC, over 1.2 million Americans have died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been at the center of theories suggesting the pandemic may have originated from a laboratory leak, though China has consistently denied these claims.
{Matzav.com}