Scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China have shared warnings of a new strain of Covid found in bats which has a fatality rate of 35%, amid fears of a new pandemic
Scientists in Wuhan have warned of a new strain of Covid discovered in bats, which could have a far higher mortality rate than the virus that plunged the world into lockdown five years ago.
Researchers at The Wuhan Institute of Virology have published a report confirming the new strain is more closely related to MERS – a severe respiratory illness that can spread from camels to people through physical contact. MERS has a fatality rate of 35%, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Known as HKU5-CoV-2, it uses the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2, which caused Covid-19. The bat strain can infect cells by binding to proteins in the human body as well as other mammals, the study led by Dr. Shi Zhengli said.
It is unknow if the strain can spread to humans as it “remains to be investigated.”
Asked about concerns raised by the report of another pandemic resulting from this new virus, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the reaction to the study “overblown.”
He added there is a lot of immunity in the population to similar SARS viruses compared with 2019, which may reduce the risk of another worldwide pandemic. The study added the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2.
This comes as a surge in cases of the flu-like human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China has raised fears of another pandemic similar to Covid. It’s been nearly half a decade since the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the deadliest outbreaks in history. The virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and rapidly spread across Asia before reaching global proportions by early 2020.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a public health emergency in January 2020 and officially recognised it as a pandemic on March 11. Fast forward to October 2024, and the UK is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with health experts warning the public to be vigilant for four key symptoms.
The XEC strain of coronavirus, a combination of the BX. 1.1 and BM 3.3 variants, is fuelling infections nationwide. First identified in Germany, this highly contagious variant has now spread to 27 countries across Europe, Asia, and North America.