Researchers at Wuhan lab discovered a new bat coronavirus, HKU5-CoV-2, which shares entry pathways with SARS-CoV-2 but poses limited risk to humans.

The lab finding does raise the possibility that this new bat virus could spread from animals to humans, researchers said in a paper published in the journal Cell

The new virus called HKU5-CoV-2 was found by a team of virologists led by Shi Zhengli, a scientist known as “Batwoman” for her work in coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute, The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.

Chinese researchers have discovered a new bat coronavirus that poses a potential risk of animal-to-human transmission. The virus uses the same cell-surface protein as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19,

CoV-2, has raised concerns due to its ability to infect human cells, much like the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the virus was identified by a team of virologists led by Shi Zhengli,

Research was led by Shi Zhengli, a virologist known as the 'batwoman', who is best known for her work on coronaviruses at a lab in Wuhan A Chinese team has found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19.