A new bat coronavirus has been discovered in China. What you need to know
Chinese researchers have discovered that the bat virus enters human cells by the same route as COVID-19. However, this does not happen as easily as in the case of SARS-CoV-2. Should we wait for a new world pandemic - in the material "Izvestia".
What is this virus
- The study was conducted in the laboratory of the city of Guangzhou in China's southern province of Guangdong by scientists from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and Wuhan Institute of Virology under the leadership of virologist Shi Zhengli. She is also known as "batwoman" in scientific circles because of her numerous studies on bat coronavirus.
- Virologists have discovered a new bat coronavirus that can infect humans through the same pathway as COVID-19. The researchers estimate that the virus, dubbed HKU5-CoV-2, may have a wider range of "hosts" and a higher potential for cross-species infection.
- Scientists first identified a new type of HKU5 virus in the Japanese cetacean in Hong Kong, the virus belongs to the merbekovirus subgenus. The identified virus is able to bind to human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, to infect cells.
- The virus found in bats is similar to the one that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a severe and often fatal respiratory disease that can be transmitted from camels to humans through direct physical contact. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the majority of those sickened are in countries in the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and others.
- HKU5-CoV-2 binds to ACE2 receptors not only in humans but also in numerous other species, all of which can act as intermediate hosts and subsequently transmit the virus to humans.
- Rospotrebnadzor is monitoring reports of a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus identified in China. However, the federal service noted that the risk of animal-to-human transmission remains low. At the same time, Russian experts continue monitoring and research to ensure safety and be prepared for possible challenges in the future.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) does not yet have additional information about the new coronavirus.
Is a new pandemic possible
- Chinese scientists noted that more careful monitoring of the virus is needed while its effectiveness is much lower than that of COVID-19. They emphasized that the risk of HKU5-CoV-2 appearing in the human population should not be exaggerated.
- Although the probability of HKU5-CoV-2 virus passing to humans is not zero, the risk of its spread in our population is very low because the bats in which the virus has been detected do not live in the human range.
- Prevention is the main thing to counteract viruses. It is necessary to wash hands with soap and water, observe distance, etiquette, use a mask in large crowds of people, lead a healthy lifestyle, she concluded.
- It should not be forgotten that many different viruses can be found in the body of any wild animal. However, after mankind was "burned" by COVID-19, bats became one of the favorite objects of study of virologists.
- The very fact that an article on the discovery of the virus was published in a scientific journal indicates that enough time has passed since the virus was discovered by scientists. And there is no reason to assume that this discovery heralds a new pandemic.
- Pandemics don't happen every year or even every decade. Viruses rarely have properties that allow them to spread around the world.
In preparing the material "Izvestia" talked to:
Vitaly Zverev, scientific director of the Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera.
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