HKU5-CoV-2 Virus in China: The outbreak of COVID-19 has not ended completely all over the world and in the meantime, there has been a stir due to the discovery of another similar virus from China. Chinese scientists have discovered a new bat coronavirus, which enters human cells like a coronavirus. Its name is HKU5-CoV-2 and scientists have expressed apprehension that this virus may spread to humans in the future. This has created fear in the minds of people that can this new virus from bats cause an epidemic like Covid. Let's try to know about this.

According to the report of the South China Morning Post, like SARS-CoV-2, the HKU5-CoV-2 virus has a feature called furin cleavage site. This helps this virus to enter the human body through the ACE2 receptor protein. ACE2 receptor is the protein through which SARS-CoV-2 also enters the cells. Researchers said that this site is also present in this bat virus, which gives it the ability to enter cells. However, this bat virus is not able to enter human cells as easily as SARS-CoV-2.

Researchers conducted experiments on this bat virus, which showed that it affects human cells. It especially attacks those cells quickly, which have a high amount of ACE2 receptors. Scientists also observed the effect of this virus in human intestinal and airway models. Apart from this, the research identified some monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs that can target this bat virus. This makes it clear that treatments can be developed to control this virus.

Experts around the world say that it is not right to predict the next pandemic based on this study. Compared to the year 2019, people have now developed more immunity against diseases like SARS, which can reduce the risk of an epidemic. The ability of this bat virus to bind to human ACE2 is much less than that of SARS-CoV-2. The researchers also concluded that the risk of the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 spreading to humans is not high. There is no need to exaggerate the possibility of such a virus emerging. However, scientists will continue to monitor it and understand the potential threats.

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