How HKU5-CoV2 Differs from COVID-19: What You Need to Know

The world came to a halt with one announcement. COVID-19 has infected millions and altered the socio-political ecosystem globally. Today, with the emergence of newer epidemics such as SARS CoV-2, it is absolutely clear that the world is nowhere close to recuperating fully from its effects - both superb and horrid. As this emerges in concern, Efforts are underway in China’s Wuhan Institute Of Virology to isolate bat viruses, one of them being the HKU5-CoV2. The global attention is certainly glued with the question - is this step again going to emit terrifying signals like COVID-19 did. A large amount of fear comes from the ‘bat’ virus having the potential to infect humans in a heartbeat just like its predecessor, COVID-19, and claim numerous lives. 

Led by ‘Batwoman’ Shi Zhengli, the latest finding made by Chinese virologists, is the newly sequenced lineage of HKU5 coronavirus. This strain, first reported in Hong Kong's Japanese Pipistrelle bats, has been shown to have the capacity to attack human tissues. Upon isolating the strain from tissues of bats, researchers found its ability to infect miniature organ tissues and organs cultivated artificially.

What are the distinguishing characteristics between HKU5-CoV2 and SARS-CoV 2? 

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, otherwise known as SARS-CoV-2, is responsible for the pandemic that started in 2019. It is capable of causing mild flu-like symptoms, severe pneumonia, multi-organ failure and more. It was spread through droplets, direct contact and was highly infectious. It also underwent numerous mutations, and it is still evolving. Each mutation, however, has a unique transmissibility and immune evasion capability.

This new bat virus, however, is first documented in bats in Hing Kong. It is also reported that HKU5-CoV-2, which belong to Merbecovirus of beacoronaviruses, is different from Covid-19 genetically as SARS-CoV 2 is a member of the Sarbecovirus subgenus, as per Etimes. 

However, extensive research is needed to understand the potential of HKU5-CoV-2 in humans since, so far, it has not been documented to infect humans. More work also needs to be done on the new bat virus's capacity to infect humans, which contrasts with the Covid-19 virus that infected a vast number of individuals.

According to Dr. Michael Osterholm, who specializes in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, compared to 2019, there is a great deal of immunity in the population to comparable SARS viruses, which could dampen the chances of a pandemic. While the virus was found to have significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, the presence of many other sub-optimal factors for human adaptation means that the “risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated.”

As reported by the South China Morning Post, the new virus is from the merbecovirus subgenus that includes the virus for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Advise from experts so far has been to not panic. Work is still ongoing to better understand its impact on humans.