A newly discovered bat coronavirus could at some point spread to humans like COVID-19, Chinese researchers have found.
The virus, HKU5-CoV-2, does not enter human cells as readily as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, the scientists reported in the journal Cell.
However, they found that the bat virus uses the same cell-surface protein, ACE2, as SARS-CoV-2 to help it enter human cells.
In lab experiments, HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes and in models of human intestines and airways.
Read more science and technology news:
How AI is being used to manipulate German voters
New prostate cancer screening trial announced
Donated placenta saved acid attack victim's eye
In further experiments, the researchers identified antibodies and antiviral drugs that are able to target the bat virus.
Asked about concerns raised by the report of another pandemic resulting from this new virus, Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the reaction to the study "overblown".
He said there is a lot of immunity in the population to similar COVID-19 and SARS viruses compared with 2019.
The study itself noted that the virus has significantly less binding affinity than SARS-CoV-2.
(c) Sky News 2025: Scientists find new virus that could infect humans in same way as COVID-19
'Worst hack in history' as $1.5bn in cryptocurrency stolen
Apple removes advanced security tool over UK government row
Apple removes end-to-end security encryption tool for UK cloud users rather than renege on its privacy commitments to all
Elon Musk calls famed astronaut Andreas Mogensen an 'idiot' after being accused of 'lying' about stranded astronauts
