Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5

Species of virus

Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Riboviria
Kingdom:	Orthornavirae
Phylum:	Pisuviricota
Class:	Pisoniviricetes
Order:	Nidovirales
Family:	Coronaviridae
Genus:	Betacoronavirus
Subgenus:	Merbecovirus
Species:	Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5

Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5 (Bat-CoV HKU5) is an enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA mammalian Group 2 Betacoronavirus discovered in Japanese Pipistrellus in Hong Kong. This strain of coronavirus is closely related to the newly identified novel MERS-CoV that is responsible for the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus outbreaks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Transmission

The exact means of transmission to humans is not yet well known. However, it has been demonstrated that betaCoV's including HKU5 have the propensity to recombine and cause interspecies transmission. However, this is not seen in Group C betaCov's to which MERS-CoV is most closely related.^[4] All HKU5 coronaviruses have been shown to use ACE2 from their natural host species, Pipistrellus abramus, to infect their hosts.^[5]

References

^ Woo, Patrick CY; Lau, Susanna KP; Li, Kenneth SM; Tsang, Alan KL; Yuen, Kwok-Yung (2012). "Genetic relatedness of the novel human group C betacoronavirus to Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 and Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5". Emerging Microbes & Infections. 1 (11): e35. doi:10.1038/emi.2012.45. PMC 3630921. PMID 26038405.
^ Zaki, Ali M.; Van Boheemen, Sander; Bestebroer, Theo M.; Osterhaus, Albert D.M.E.; Fouchier, Ron A.M. (2012). "Isolation of a Novel Coronavirus from a Man with Pneumonia in Saudi Arabia". New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (19): 1814–20. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1211721. PMID 23075143.
^ Woo, Patrick C.Y.; Lau, Susanna K.P.; Li, Kenneth S.M.; Poon, Rosana W.S.; Wong, Beatrice H.L.; Tsoi, Hoi-wah; Yip, Bethanie C.K.; Huang, Yi; Chan, Kwok-Hung; Yuen, Kwok-Yung (2006). "Molecular diversity of coronaviruses in bats". Virology. 351 (1): 180–7. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2006.02.041. PMC 7111821. PMID 16647731.
^ Woo, Patrick C. Y.; Huang, Yi; Lau, Susanna K. P.; Yuen, Kwok-Yung (2010). "Coronavirus Genomics and Bioinformatics Analysis". Viruses. 2 (8): 1804–20. doi:10.3390/v2081803. PMC 3185738. PMID 21994708.
^ LETKO, MICHAEL (14 March 2024). "Functional assessment of cell entry and receptor use for merbecoviruses". bioRxiv 10.1101/2024.03.13.584892.