Researchers say the bat virus, named Khosta-2, can infect human cells and is resistant to the antibodies of people who’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19.
Researchers at WSU have found that a sarbecovirus discovered in Russian lesser horseshoe bats is capable of infecting humans and is resistant to the antibodies of people vaccinated against SARS‑CoV‑2.has been found in a Russian bat and could spread to humans, researchers at Washington State University say.
"Our research further demonstrates that [viruses] circulating in wildlife outside of Asia – even in places like western Russia where the Khosta-2 virus was found – also pose a threat to global health and ongoing vaccine campaigns against SARS-CoV-2," said Michael Letko, WSU virologist and an author of the study published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
Researchers said hundreds of sarbecoviruses have been discovered in recent years, predominantly in bats in Asia, but the majority are not capable of infecting human cells. The Khosta-1 and Khosta-2 viruses were discovered in Russian bats in late 2020, and it initially appeared they were not a threat to humans.
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