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A dangerous new coronavirus discovered in China could spark the next pandemic, scientists warn. American researchers say the new HKU5-CoV-2 virus is just one 'small' mutation away from being able to infect and cause outbreaks in humans. The discovery is causing alarm because the pathogen is closely related to MERS, a highly lethal virus that kills up to a third of those it infects. Adding to the controversy is the fact HKU5 was first documented in bats by researchers from the Chinese lab where Covid is feared to have leaked from. For the latest study, a team from Washington State...

Researchers at the Chinese lab accused of leaking the COVID-19 virus have now discovered a new coronavirus in bats that closely matches the one that led to the deadly worldwide outbreak in 2020, according to a study. The virus, unearthed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission, though the infection has not yet been identified in a living person, according to a study published in the scientific journal Cell. The bat virus, referred to as HKU5-CoV-2, uses the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2, a strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The newly discovered bat...

Chinese scientists have found a new bat coronavirus, HKU5-CoV-2, that can infect humans, raising concerns about another potential pandemic. This virus can attach to the same human cell receptor (ACE2) that Covid-19 used to spread, making experts pay close attention. The discovery was made by a team led by Shi Zhengli, famously known as "batwoman" for her work on bat viruses. The study, published in the journal Cell, involved scientists from top research institutes, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology. HKU5-CoV-2 is part of the merbecovirus family, which also includes the MERS virus. It was first found in bats in...