JAKARTA - A new coronavirus discovered in China is of serious concern to international scientists. This virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, is said to require only one more small mutation to be transmitted and cause an outbreak among humans. These findings sparked global concerns about the potential for a new pandemic that could follow in the footsteps of Covid-19.
Researchers from Washington State University revealed that the HKU5-CoV-2 virus originated in a virus group closely related to the MERS-CoV's deadly virus that was first discovered in the Middle East and had a death rate of up to 34 percent. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists conducted a series of laboratory experiments to test the ability of this virus to infect human cells.
The team of scientists used a sophisticated approach in the form of live viral tests, protein modeling, and artificial intelligence-based simulations to map the possibility of transmitting the virus from bats to humans. They found that a small change in the spike protein of the main components used by the virus to enter cells could enable it to bind human ACE2 receptors, namely proteins which are also the main gateway for Covid-19 to infect the human body.
In laboratory experiments, researchers created pseudoviruses 'articles of artificial viruses that carry HKU5 spike protein but are harmless and cannot replicate. These pseudoviruses were then put into engineered cells to carry bat and human ACE2 receptors. As a result, the virus was able to infect bat cells easily. But worryingly, some mutations in the spike proved to improve its ability to enter human cells.
Professor Michael Letko, the virologist who led the study, said that HKU5-CoV-2 is very likely to develop into a virus capable of inter-human transmission. The previous HKU5 virus was not very noticed, but our study shows that they are just one step away from the potential for transmission to humans," he said.
The virus was originally discovered in a bat species called Pipistrellus abramus or the Japanese house bat, which is spread across China's south and east. Ironically, HKU5 was first documented by scientists from a laboratory also touted as a potential source of leakage of the Covid-19 virus, namely the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
SEE ALSO:
Experts warn that uncontrolled wildlife trade on China's wet market could create opportunities for this virus to move to intermediate animals such as civets or minks, before eventually transmitting to humans a scenario very similar to the alleged origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What makes this virus even more frightening is its proximity to the merbecovirus family, the coronavirus group that includes the MERS-CoV. In addition to HKU5, the research team also studied various other variants of the merbecovirus and found that some of them, including Lineage 2 of HKU5, had the ability to stick to human ACE2 receptors even without additional mutations.
Although currently HKU5-CoV-2 has not been detected in humans, scientists emphasize the importance of strict supervision of this virus. If the required mutations occur in nature, especially through intermediate animals, the world can again face the threat of a large outbreak on an unpredictable scale.
"Potention is real and must be monitored very seriously," said Letko. We have learned from Covid-19 that the world should no longer be careless about viruses from animals that can be transmitted to humans.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
