Chinese researchers find bat virus enters human cells via same pathway as Covid-19

In laboratory experiments, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes and in models of human intestines and airways. -- PHOTO: UNSPLASH via The Straits Times/ANN

BEIJING (Reuters): A newly discovered bat coronavirus uses the same cell-surface protein to gain entry into human cells as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, raising the possibility that it could someday spread to humans, Chinese researchers have reported.

The virus does not enter human cells as readily as SARS-CoV-2 does, the Chinese researchers reported in the journal Cell, noting some of its limitations.