The virus belongs to the merbecovirus subgenus, which includes the MERS-CoV virus responsible for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). MERS, first detected in 2012, spreads from camels to humans and has a high fatality rate.

A media report underscores that the virus, found by a Chinese team of virologists, uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19.

The study found that HKU5-CoV-2 contains a furin cleavage site, a feature that enhances viral entry into cells via the ACE2 receptor. In laboratory experiments, the virus was able to infect human cells with high ACE2 levels, including models of human intestines and airways.

A Chinese team discovered a new bat coronavirus that poses a risk of animal-to-human transmission as it uses the same human receptor as the COVID-19 virus, a Hong Kong daily reported on Thursday, citing the latest study.

Another coronavirus with a higher potential to infect humans than other coronaviruses has been discovered in bats by scientists in China - it is understood to be related to MERS

A new study led by Shi Zhengli, the Chinese scientist at the centre of research that’s suspected to have caused the Covid-19 pandemic, has found a new bat coronavirus that has a ‘high’ risk of spillov

Researchers have discovered a virus that could enter human cells in a similar way to COVID-19. But they caution it's much more poorly adapted to humans.

Newly discovered bat coronavirus shares entry protein with COVID-19, but poses lower risk of human transmission, researchers find.