A NEW bat coronavirus has been discovered at the same Chinese lab at the centre of the Covid lab leak theory storm.
Scientists have raised fears that this new virus – which shares simlarities with the bug that triggered the pandemic – could one day spread to humans.
Scientists at the Wuhan Virology Institute have discovered another Covid-like bat coronavirus[/caption]
China has previously been accused of leaking coronavirus[/caption]
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been accused of leaking the deadly virus[/caption]
The new bat coronavirus was found at the highly scrutinised Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
This virus, called HKU5-CoV-2, shares features with SARS-CoV-2 virus, that caused Covid-19 and ravaged the world in 2020.
The HKU5-CoV-2 strain enters cells in the same way as SARS-CoV-2, according to a fresh research paper penned by infamous Chinese scientist Shi Zhengli.
Zhengli – one of the top brains at WIV – is known as China’s “Batwoman” and has been linked to the origins of Covid.
This new bat virus binds to a protein found in cells in the bodies of animals.
But it has not yet gained the ability to infect humans – but needs further investigation into the risk of mutation.
Scientists also said HKU5-CoV-2 was closely related to the virus that caused the Middle East respiratory syndrome.
The MERS virus has killed around 36 per cent of the 2,600 people it has infected globally, from 2012 to May 2024, per Bloomberg.
This Wuhan Institute of Virology has been in the public eye since January 2020 when reports of deadly new disease were reported in Wuhan, China.
Coronavirus then quickly spread across the globe, forcing the world to pause just three months later when countries enforced strict and unprecedented lockdowns.
WIV, which is known for its work on bat coronaviruses, became the centre of the storm when questions began being asked about the bug’s origins.
Originally dismissed as a conspiracy theory – the lab leak hypothesis has now become mainstream.
Scientists and intelligence officers have testified they believe Covid most likely came from a lab.
And the CIA last month released a bombshell declassified assessment pointing the figure at WIV.
WIV is believed to have been doing risky virus research in the months before Covid first emerged in China in late 2019.
And its feared one of their souped-up viruses may have escaped – triggering the pandemic.
Chinese government officials and WIV have always dismissed this hypothesis.
But while the origins remain shrouded in mystery – the lab leak continues to gain traction in the West.
Doctors treating Covid-19 patients at a hospital in Wuhan in 2020[/caption]
Last year, US President Joe Biden signed a bill asking for intelligence on the origins of Covid and the Wuhan Institute of Virology to be declassified.
The resulting report, based on fresh analyses of existing intelligence rather than new discoveries, said the coronavirus likely originated from the Wuhan research centre.
But US intelligence agencies still remain divided about the origin of the pandemic as the CIA admitted it had “low confidence” in this conclusion.
The move to declassify the findings was ordered by President Donald Trump’s pick for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in just days ago.
The Sun has been leading the way in trying to uncover the origins of Covid – with reporting revealing the mysteries around WIV’s lost databases, compelling testimony from insiders, and revelations the Pentagon was warned six times of a lab leak.
Dr Robert Redfield, 73, the former chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told The Sun he believed President Trump could help get closer to the truth.
He said: “We can actually have a real investigation with subpoena power.
“I think we’ll be closer to the answer.
“And I think China will eventually be a partner in that decision.”
Dr Redfield worked with Trump in early 2020 to try and send a US team to China to investigate the mystery virus that we now know as Covid-19.
But China refused, and Dr Redfield believes this decision immediately put the US on the back-foot in terms of uncovering the origins – and halting the spread of the virus.
Over 1.2million Americans died during the Covid-19 pandemic, per the CDC.
Dr. Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen touring her lab with Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, in 2014[/caption]
The first Covid-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China[/caption]
Scientists at the Wuhan Virology Institute[/caption]
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