China discovers new bat coronavirus capable of infecting humans: Top points

The study on the new virus was carried out by leading Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, who is also known as the "batwoman" as a result of her extensive research on bat coronaviruses, at the Guangzhou Laboratory.

In Short

• HKU5-CoV-2 virus uses the same cell-surface protein as SARS-CoV-2 to infect human cells
• Lead researcher Shi Zhengli, known as 'batwoman', led the study
• HKU5-CoV-2 poses less risk of human infection than SARS-CoV-2

Chinese researchers have found a new bat coronavirus, HKU5-CoV-2, which has the potential to infect humans as it uses the same cell-surface protein to infiltrate cells as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused Covid-19.

The study on the new virus, published in the Cell scientific journal, was carried out by leading Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, who is also known as the “batwoman”, as a result of her extensive research on bat coronaviruses, at the Guangzhou Laboratory.

WHAT IS HKU5-CoV-2

The new virus called HKU5-CoV-2 has been discovered in bats in China. Despite the potential risk of infecting humans, the researchers said more details on animal-to-human transmission are yet to be investigated.

While there are hundreds of coronaviruses in the wild, only a few can infect humans.

HKU5-CoV-2, that traces its lineage from the HKU5 coronavirus first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong, comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

The scientists said that like SARS-CoV-2, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it to enter cells via the ACE2 receptor protein on cell surfaces.

In lab experiments, HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes and in models of human intestines and airways.

The researchers also identified monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs that target the bat virus.

'BATWOMAN' LEADS RESEARCH

The research on the new coronavirus was led by China's leading virologist Shi Zhengli along with a team of scientists from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Shi is popularly known as the "batwoman" due to her extensive knowledge and research into bat coronaviruses. She is also known for for her work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is commonly suspected to be the epicentre of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

There have been claims that the virus leaked from a lab at the Wuhan institute.

Shi has, however, rejected the claim and denied that the pandemic originated from the institute. Till date, there has been no consensus on how the Covid-19 virus originated.

IS HKU5-CoV-2 DANGEROUS?

According to the Chinese researchers, HKU5-CoV-2 does not enter human cells as readily as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

The study also noted that the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and other suboptimal factors for human adaptation suggest the "risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated".

Meanwhile, Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, has called the reaction to the study "overblown".

He said there is a lot of immunity in the population to similar SARS viruses compared with 2019, which may reduce the pandemic risk.

Earlier this month, another study conducted by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle and Wuhan University said that although the HKU5 strain could bind to bat and other mammalian ACE2 receptors, they did not detect “efficient” human binding.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Cases of the novel coronavirus were first detected in China in December 2019, with the virus spreading rapidly to other countries across the world. This prompted the World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in January 2020 and to characterise the outbreak as a pandemic two months later.

As of February 2025, the global pandemic has caused 7,087,718 confirmed deaths, making it the fifth-deadliest pandemic or epidemic in history.

(With Reuters inputs)