Researchers at Wuhan lab discovered a new bat coronavirus, HKU5-CoV-2, which shares entry pathways with SARS-CoV-2 but poses limited risk to humans.

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China said they discovered a new coronavirus in bats that enters cells using the same gateway as the virus that causes Covid-19.

Experts note that HKU5-CoV-2 has a lower binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and its ability to infect humans on a large scale remains uncertain. More research is needed to determine if it poses a serious health threat.

Researchers have discovered a new coronavirus in Chinese bats. HKU5-CoV-2 is a coronavirus belonging to the merbecovirusgroup, which also includes the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus. RELATED: Another US agency assesses COVID-19 origin likely a Chinese 'lab leak': report

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was not involved in the creation or leakage of the COVID-19 virus, a spokesperson of China's foreign ministry said during a regular press conference on Wednesday.

China has firmly denied that its Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted gain-of-function studies on coronavirus, rejecting allegations that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded such research at the lab.

CoV-2, has raised concerns due to its ability to infect human cells, much like the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the virus was identified by a team of virologists led by Shi Zhengli,

The discovery of HKU5 coronavirus lineage (HKU5-CoV-2) in bats was led by Shi Zhengli, the Chinese virologist known as the “batwoman” due to her research on bat coronaviruses. Like SARS-CoV-2, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it to enter cells.