Chinese Researchers Find New Coronavirus

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), this study was led by famed virologist Shi Zhengli also known as the “Batwoman” due to her extensive research on bat coronaviruses at the Guangzhou Laboratory along with researchers from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The newly discovered bat coronavirus belongs to a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus, which was first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong.

The bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it to enter cells via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor protein on cell surfaces. Chinese researchers found that while the newly discovered bat coronavirus uses the same cell-surface protein as SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells, it does not do so as efficiently, noting some of its limitations, reported Reuters.