Scientists spoke about a new dangerous coronavirus found in bats in Russia

Scientists have discovered that a newly discovered coronavirus found in bats in Russia has a disturbing ability to infect human cells. Although the pathogen is very similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that underlies COVID-19, current vaccines would be useless against it.

This is stated in the new researchAn ACE2-dependent Sarbecovirus in Russian bats is resistant to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines scientists from the University of Washington who re-examined samples of the Host-1 and Host-2 viruses found in horseshoe bats near Sochi National Park back in 2020. The new analysis has shown that these pathogens are likely to be much more dangerous than originally thought.

"Hosta-1" and "Hosta-2" are sarbecoviruses, the same group of coronaviruses that caused the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak, as well as COVID-19.

It turned out that "Hosta-2" can use its spike protein to infect human cells, binding to ACE2, the same receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to capture and enter organism. Hundreds of sarbecoviruses have been identified in recent years, but the ability to infect human cells is rare.

Despite the similarity of the virus to SARS-CoV-2, current vaccines and treatment with monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19 will not work with it, added scientists.

With all this, new sarbecoviruses do not pose an immediate threat to the population at the moment. So far, they are just another reminder that the threat of transmission of dangerous viruses from animals to humans always exists, and the world must be better prepared for this.