Khosta-2 More Dangerous? Scientists Warn New Bat Virus Is Similar to COVID-19 Infecting Humans but Resists Current Vaccines

Researchers recently discovered Khosta-2, a bat virus similar to SARS-CoV-2 that is also capable of infecting humans.

According to a new study from a team of researchers at the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health at Washington State University (WSU) published in the journal PLoS Pathogens, Khosta-2 is a sarbecovirus, the same subcategory as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

The study found that Khosta-2 can use its spike proteins to infect human cells as SARS-CoV-2 does and is resistant to COVID-19 antibodies and vaccines.

TIME reported that scientists led by Michael Letko, assistant professor in the Paul Allen School of Public Health at WSU, discovered a group of coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 living in bats in Russia in 2020.

At the time, they did not think Khosta-2 posed a threat to humans. But after doing more research, Letko's team discovered that it could infect human cells in the lab, the initial indication that it could become a possible public health threat.

The study found that Khosta-1 can not enter human cells readily, posing a low risk to people. However, Khosta-2 seems to infect human cells easily. The study noted that Khosta-2 binds to ACE2, the same protein that SARS-CoV-2 uses to penetrate and infect human cells.

"Receptors on human cells are the way that viruses get into cells. If a virus can't get in the door, then it can't get into the cell, and it's difficult to establish any type of infection," Letko said.

Coronavirus Is Not Only Found in China Bats

Scientists initially believed that sarbecoviruses exclusively circulated in a specific bat species in southern China in the early 2000s. However, Michael Letko noted that over the past 20 years, scientists had discovered "many more in diverse species and different geographic locations," Newsweek reported.

Currently, he said sarbecoviruses circulate in wildlife such as bats, pangolins, raccoon dogs, and palm civets in China, Japan, Laos, Russia, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, and Africa. Letko added that researchers would likely find more of these viruses in the future.

Is Bat Virus Khosta-2 Dangerous?

The researchers conducted some tests to determine whether the virus could evade the immunity offered by previous coronavirus infections or COVID-19 vaccines. Using serum taken from people vaccinated against COVID-19, they found that the current vaccines can not neutralize Khosta-2.

According to Euro News, scientists also tested serum from people infected with the Omicron variant but got the same result. Fortunately, the new bat virus lacks several genetic features believed to "antagonize" the immune system and contribute to disease in people, according to the authors.

However, there is a chance that Khosta-2 could cause chaos by recombining with a second virus, like SARS-CoV-2.

"When you see SARS-2 has this ability to spill back from humans and into wildlife, and then there are other viruses like Khosta-2 waiting in those animals with these properties we really don't want them to have, it sets up this scenario where you keep rolling the dice until they combine to make a potentially riskier virus," Letko noted.

The study is a reminder that pathogens could anytime jump from any number of animal species to humans. Letko said these viruses are widespread everywhere and will continue to be an issue for humans.

However, he noted that at this stage, it is difficult to say whether Khosta-2 has the potential to spark an epidemic or a pandemic. He clarified that even if the bat virus can infect human cells, it does not mean it will cause "a pandemic or even transmit to one single person," since "many factors" control if it will transmit or spread between persons.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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