Covid-like bat virus discovered by researchers at Wuhan lab in China

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.

This virus hasn’t been detected in humans, merely identified in a laboratory. Word of the discovery lifted the shares of some vaccine makers Friday.

Moderna Inc. rose as much as 6.6 per cent Friday afternoon and Novavax Inc. rose as much as 7.8 per cent. American depositary receipts of BioNTech SE, Pfizer Inc.’s Covid vaccine partner, climbed as much as 5.1 per cent. Pfizer gained as much as 2.6 per cent.

The lab finding does raise the possibility that this new bat virus could spread from animals to humans, researchers said in a paper published Tuesday in the journal Cell.

The Wuhan virus research center is known for its work on bat coronaviruses. One theory of how the Covid pandemic began is that it leaked from that lab, perhaps through an infected worker. Institute researchers have previously denied working on any viruses that could have started the pandemic. The US in 2023 halted funding for the lab, which had received money through the US-based EcoHealth Alliance, amid the controversy.

This newly discovered bat virus infects cells by binding to a protein found throughout the bodies of humans and other mammals. It’s closely related to the coronavirus family that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome.

That virus, also known as MERS, has been confirmed in around 2,600 people globally from 2012 through May 2024, killing roughly 36 per cent of those infected. The vast majority of the cases were in Saudi Arabia, according to the World Health Organization website.