A new coronavirus has been discovered in bats that might pose new problems for humans because the virus can infect human cells and already bypass the immune protection provided by Covid vaccines.
According to a report published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, scientists led by Michael Letko, an assistant professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Global Health at the University of Washington, have identified a group of Corona virus found that resemble SARS-CoV-2. These were originally discovered in 2020 in bats living in Russia.
At that time, it was not believed that the virus, named Khosta-2, posed a threat to humans. However, when Letko’s team performed a more detailed analysis, they found that the virus might infect human cells in the lab. This is the first warning sign that it might become a potential health threat. A related virus also found in Russian bats, Khosta-1, might not easily enter human cells, but Khosta-2 might. Namely, Khosta-2 binds to the same protein, ACE2, that SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells. “Receptors on human cells are how viruses enter cells,” Letko said. “If the virus cannot enter through the door, it cannot enter the cell either, and it is difficult to detect any type of infection,” he added.
However, Khosta-2 does not seem to have this problem as it can easily infect human cells.
Of even greater concern is the fact that when Letko combined the serum of people who had been vaccinated once morest Covid with Khosta-2, the antibodies in the serum failed to neutralize the virus. The same thing happened when the team combined the Khosta-2 virus with serum from people who had recovered from infection with the omicron variant. “We don’t want to scare anyone and say that this is a virus that is completely resistant to vaccines,” says Letko. “But the fact that viruses circulate in nature with these properties – they can bind to human receptors and are not as neutralized by current vaccine responses – is worrying,” he added.
The good news is that Letko’s studies show that Khosta-2, like the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, does not appear to have genes that suggest it might cause serious illness in humans. But that might change if Khosta-2 starts circulating further and mixing with genes from SARS-CoV-2.
“One of the things we’re concerned regarding is that if related coronaviruses enter the same animal and cells, they can recombine and create a new virus,” says Letko. “The concern is that SARS-CoV-2 might re-enter animals infected with something like the Khosta-2 virus and recombine and infect human cells. They might be resistant to the immunity achieved by the vaccine and also have some more virulent factors. Who knows what the odds are, but theoretically it might happen during recombination,” Letko said.
It’s an important food for thought that pathogens are ready and waiting to jump from any kind of animal to humans. And in many cases, like SARS-CoV-2, these microbes will be new to humans and will therefore face little resistance in the form of immunity to them. “These viruses are really widespread and will continue to be a problem for people,” says Letko.
The findings come from a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) task force that a sustained response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of testing, vaccination and treatment is being delayed. With lower global immunity to the current SARS-CoV-2 virus, the fight once morest all new pathogens, including new coronaviruses such as Khosta-2, becomes more difficult. According to the latest data from the WHO, a quarter of the world’s people have not yet received their first dose of the Covid vaccine.
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