A novel coronavirus has been discovered in bat thanks to researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, the facility that is accused of leaking Covid-19. According to the New York Post, the disease closely resembles the strain responsible for the crisis in a recent study that was published in Cell.
The newly discovered disease is named HKU5-CoV-2 and has the ability for animal-to-human distribution. There haven’t been any infection found in people so much. The study, led by renowned pathologist Dr Shi Zhengli, found that the wicket virus can attach to proteins found in humans and other mammals, related to how SARS-CoV-2—the disease behind Covid-19—infects human tissue. However, researchers note that its potential to spread to people “remains to become investigated”.
Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS ), a severe illness that can spread from camels to people through direct contact, belongs to the same coronavirus family as HKU5-CoV-2. MERS outbreaks have primarily occurred in countries near the Arabian Peninsula, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ).
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been the subject of international outcry over claims that Covid-19 properly include leaks from its test, a claim China has repeatedly refuted. In Wuhan, Covid-19 became the first human case to occur in November 2019, ultimately causing a global issue.
Covid-19 went on to become the deadliest crisis of the decade, claiming millions of lives across the globe. More than 7 million deaths have been officially recorded, according to the World Health Organization ( WHO ), but estimates suggest that unreported cases could lead to as many as 20 million deaths. The United States only lost over 1.2 million individuals, while India, Brazil, and some European countries also suffered devastating loss. The pandemic caused economic problems and long-term health issues for millions of people who survived the disease as well as overburden healthcare systems.
