''Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5'' (''Bat-CoV HKU5'') is an enveloped,
positive-sense single-stranded RNA mammalian Group 2 ''
Betacoronavirus
''Betacoronavirus'' (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) is one of four genera (''Alpha''-, ''Beta-'', '' Gamma-'', and '' Delta-'') of coronaviruses. Member viruses are enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses that infect mammals (of which humans are part). ...
'' discovered in Japanese ''
Pipistrellus
''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian language, Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat").
The size of the ge ...
'' 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
''Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (''MERS-CoV''), or EMC/2012 ( HCoV-EMC/2012), is the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). It is a species of coronavirus which infects humans, bats, and camels. Th ...
'' outbreaks in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
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.
See also
*
London1 novel CoV/2012
London1_novel CoV/2012 is a coronavirus strain isolated from a Qatari man in London in 2012 who was one of the first patients to come down with what has since been named Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The Qatari ...
*
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
References
External links
London1-nCoV-2012 phylogenetic treeVirus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Coronaviridae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16988144
Merbecovirus
Bat virome
Animal viral diseases
Bat diseases