Getting To Know HKU5-CoV-2, A New Virus Similar To COVID-19

Photo: Pexels/Martin Lopez

The new virus has been identified by a team of Chinese scientists, namely the HKU5-CoV-2 virus.

This virus has the potential to infect humans and bind the same recepter as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research on the virus in a laboratory in Guangzhou, China, led by leading virologist Shi Zhengli, quoted from SCMP, on Sunday, February 23, 2025. The study was conducted with researchers from Guangzhou Academy of Science, Wuhan University, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

The results of research are now fueling fears of a possible pandemic in the future.

However, researchers warn that the HKU5-CoV-2 virus can indeed infect human cells, but the risk of transmission remains much lower than COVID-19.

HKU5-CoV-2 is a calelawar virus that infects cells by binding proteins, which are found throughout the human body and other mammals. The virus is closely linked to the coronavirus, which causes Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome known as MERS.

This virus was first detected in Japanese kalelawar methrelle species in Hong Kong. Upon investigation, it was found that this virus has the ability to bind enzyme receptors, human antiotension 2 (ACE2) converters, the same receptor used by SARS-CoV-2 to infect.

The bat's merbecovirus, which is phylogenetically linked to the MERS-CoV, poses a high risk of being transferred to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts, "the researchers said in the results of the study.

According to research conducted, the virus can also stick to ACE2 in other mammal species. This increases the possibility of cross-species transmission.

However, although HKU5-CoV-2 is similar to SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19, researchers have asked not to worry too much.

This is because HKU5-CoV-2 bound human ACE2 receptors are much less efficient than SARS-CoV-2, thereby reducing the risk of human transmission at large.

Regarding the case of HKU5-CoV-2 until now there has been no confirmation in humans, so the exact symptoms are not known. However, because the virus is included in the subgenus of MERS and COVID-19, the symptoms are considered to be more or less the same, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, fatigue, to body aches.