New Delhi: In other news coming from China, there is a potential virus outbreak which poses considerable threat to us. The HKU5-CoV-2 is a known coronavirus that belongs to the ‘merbecovirus’ subgenus that is also responsible for the virus chain which causes the dangerous Middle East respiratory syndrome or the MERS. Scientists from China have observed that the new coronavirus, found predominantly in bat species, can also bind to human ACE2. This makes it similar to the SARS-CoV-2 and NL63 (a common cold virus) strains and it is the beginning of our problems.

It was only during a lab test on the subgenus of the SARS-CoV2 that virologists accidently discovered that the HKU5-CoV-2 has evolved to a stage when it is able to infect human cell cultures. They tested this virus subgenus in the mini-human organ models and the results were not favourable.

It is true that there are similarities between the discovery of the virus (between the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic) and the potential threat to human health. First, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the latest virus from the subgenus was found by Shi Zhengli and her team. Now, Zhengli is also the scientist........

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