A new Coronavirus has been discovered in bats in China, reports ABC. The virus could potentially infect people, according to researchers and experts from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Guangzhou Medical University.
The virus, called HKU5-COV-2, belongs to a virus group that is previously known to be harmful to humans. The researchers believe that it enters through the cells in a similar way like the Virus for Covid-19. Expert Niklas Arnberg also believes that the virus can infect human cells.
– It is a small but further evidence that there is a risk of new coronavirus -causing pandemics, he says.
In nature, there are many other coronavirus, which makes it less likely that this would be behind a future pandemic, according to Niklas Arnberg.
– I would be very surprised if it would be precisely this that causes one for pandemic.
New pandemic can become reality
Although the risk is considered to be low for HKU5-COV-2, Niklas Arnberg believes that new pandemis are inevitable. According to him, however, it is not possible to say which virus causes it when it happens or to what extent a new virus could strike.
– We know that we will suffer from new pandemics in the future, and probably the next pandemic is caused by a virus, given that all recent pandemics have been caused by viruses.
He fears that we do not have sufficiently strong protection to withstand a possible future spread of infection.
“Probably the immunity we received through Covid-19 would not provide adequate protection if this particular Coronavirus would cause the next pandemic, and it is probably unlikely that the vaccines developed against Covid-19 would protect against this particular virus,” he says.
“No danger to public health”
After the discovery, the US Infectious Disease Authority announced Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the new virus does not pose a threat to public health at present and that no human has been affected by infections.
“The CDC is aware of a publication of a new batscoronavirus, but there is no reason to believe that it currently poses a risk to public health,” the authority said in a statement.
The researchers themselves also emphasize that “the risk of spreading to human populations should not be exaggerated.”