New bat strain of coronavirus discovered by researchers in Wuhan, 2025

[Sly Saint]

A new coronavirus has been found in bats that closely resembles the one that led to the 2020 pandemic, according to researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The research department, located in the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first discovered, is a leading authority on the pandemic but it has previously been accused by detractors of leaking the virus.

The bat virus has a risk of animal to human transmission, although no person has been reported to have become infected with it, New York Post reports.

Information in scientific journal Cell revealed that the new virus, known as HKU5-CoV-2, makes use of human receptor SARS-CoV-2, the same strain of coronavirus behind Covid-19.

The study, led by virologist Dr Shi Zhengli, found that this latest bat strain can cause infection in cells by merging proteins throughout the human body and in other mammals.

The possibilities for human infection "remain to be investigated".

New bat strain of coronavirus discovered by researchers in Wuhan

see also
Another pandemic scare as scientists discover new coronavirus in China

 

[Utsikt]

The research department, located in the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first discovered, is a leading authority on the pandemic but it has previously been accused by detractors of leaking the virus.

That’s a rather judgemental description of people that believe the virus might have been a leak.

Cambridge dictionary: detractor
someone who criticizes something or someone, often unfairly:

A silver lining to a potential new pandemic is that we might get preventative measures for the ongoing one.