New Bat Coronavirus: The newly discovered virus belongs to the merbecovirus. Subgenus, which includes the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus.
A team of Chinese researchers has discovered a new bat coronavirus, with the potential for animal-to-human transmission. The virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, was found to use the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2. Which was responsible for Covid-19, as per South China Morning Post.
The study was led by Shi Zhengli, a renowned virologist known as “Batwoman”. Due to her extensive research on bat coronaviruses. Scientists from the Guangzhou Laboratory and Guangzhou Academy of Sciences joined the research. Researchers from Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology also participated. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell.