Scientists from Washington State University have warned a newly discovered Covid virus in China could be one “small” step away from a new pandemic infecting humans.
Scientists fear the new virus could mutate, which will allow the new Covid strain to infect humans speaking fears of a new global outbreak.
The virus has a close relation to MERs that can kill around one third of those who become infected.
Professor Michael Letko, a virologist at Washington State who co-led the study, said, “HKU5 viruses in particular really hadn’t been looked at much, but our study shows how these viruses infect cells.
“What we also found is HKU5 viruses may be only a small step away from being able to spill over into humans.”
Currently the virus is only spreading among bats, but scientists fear the unregulated wildlife trade in China will increase the risk of the pathogen being transmitted to people and other species.
It is strongly believed that Covid broke out in a wet market in Wuhan, China and some say they think it originated in a “Chinese government-controlled lab,” also based in Wuhan.
In 2019 genetic samples taken from animals that were sold at the Wuhan market found traces of Coronavirus.
The Mirror reported, the author of the study, Kristian Andersen from Scripps Research said, “This adds another layer to the accumulating evidence that all points to the same scenario: that infected animals were introduced into the market in mid to late November 2019, which sparked the pandemic.”
