New Bat Virus One Mutation From Human Jump Could Spark Next Pandemic 

INDIA NEWS

By Aniket Chakraborty June 10, 2025 Arrow

HKU5 coronaviruses share deadly DNA with MERS virus, which kills 34% of infected humans in current outbreaks.

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Washington State University researchers found these viruses already target the same human cell gateway as COVID-19.

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The viruses currently bind better to bat cells than human ones, but evolution could change that overnight.

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Japanese house bats originally carried HKU5, but the virus may already be jumping to minks as intermediate hosts.

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AI modeling with AlphaFold 3 revealed exactly how the virus could mutate to infect human cells more effectively.

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Unlike other coronaviruses, HKU5 has received little scientific attention despite its pandemic potential.

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The virus uses the ACE2 receptor pathway, the same biological doorway that allowed COVID-19 to devastate humanity.

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Researchers emphasize no human infections have occurred yet, but the biological foundation for spillover exists.

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Global health experts now call for urgent surveillance of HKU5 variants before they adapt to human transmission.

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