Bat viruses related to MERS might be one small mutation away from jumping to humans—and causing the next pandemic
Bat viruses closely related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) could be close to jumping to humans. Researchers investigated how a group of coronaviruses known as merbecoviruses, which includes MERS-CoV, infect host cells. They found that merbecoviruses use spike proteins—proteins that form spike structures that project from the surface of the virus—to bind to receptors. Some viruses use a host receptor called ACE2, the same receptor used by SARS-CoV-2. In lab tests, this subgroup of viruses can only use the ACE2 receptor in bats, not humans. However, when researchers looked at viruses from Asia that are found in the Japanese house bat (Pipistrellus abramus), they discovered some genetic mutations that may enable the spike proteins to bind to ACE2 receptors in other species, including humans. Despite the history of merbecoviruses, including the MERS-CoV spillover event in 2012 from dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) that killed 34% of infected humans, research on this group of viruses has been relatively limited. “These viruses are so closely related to MERS, so we have to be concerned if they ever infect humans,” said Michael Letko, a virologist at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in a press release. “While there’s no evidence they’ve crossed into people yet, the potential is there—and that makes them worth watching.”
Read more at Nature Communications.
