Scientists in China have identified a new bat coronavirus, HKU5-CoV-2, but health experts caution against overreacting,

CoV-2, found in China has sparked concerns among health officials and has triggered panic. HKU5-CoV-2 has similarities to the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study published in Cell.

Researchers in China have discovered a new coronavirus in bats that they say has the potential to spread to humans, after the world was recently hit by the COVID-19 pandemic

HKU5-CoV-2 is classified within the merbecovirus subgenus, which includes the MERS virus. Initially detected in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong, it has shown the ability to bind to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, akin to SARS-CoV-2.

This newly isolated strain can bind to the ACE2 receptor in human cells, the same pathway used by the Covid-19 virus.

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China said they discovered a new coronavirus in bats that enters cells using the same gateway as the virus that causes COVID-19.

A new bat coronavirus found in China should be monitored “very, very carefully” because it attacks human cells in the same way as Covid-19, virologists have warned.