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    A potentially mutating bat virus has some scientists worried about the next pandemic
    Futurology

    A potentially mutating bat virus has some scientists worried about the next pandemic

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    16 Comments

    1. Tuna5150 on

      The pathogen in question is HKU5, which is naturally found in the Japanese house bat. HKU5 is a subgroup of the merbecovirus, which is itself a subcategory of the coronavirus that causes diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

    2. upyoars on

      > The pathogen in question is HKU5, which is naturally found in the Japanese house bat. HKU5 is a subgroup of the merbecovirus, which is itself a subcategory of the coronavirus that causes diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

      > Even though most merbecoviruses are “unlikely to have the capacity to infect humans, the HKU5 subgroup can”. The study found that HKU5 is able to “latch onto the ACE2 receptor on target cells.” **This is the same method that the coronavirus strain identified in 2019 uses to transmit Covid-19.** HKU5 “may be only **a small step away** from being able to spill over into humans,” Michael Letko, a virologist at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine

      > Other researchers have downplayed the idea that HKU5 could ever make its way into humans. Chinese scientists first identified the strain in early 2025, and “there is no reason to believe it currently poses a concern to public health,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN at the time.

    3. Tripperbeej on

      Thanks reddit, that’s about enough internet for me today. How do I turn this thing off?

    4. IlIllIlllIlllIllllI on

      Maybe we’ll get lucky and this one will put an end to the failed simulation that is the 2020s.

    9. drunk_funky_chipmunk on

      Oh no biggie. Cause we’re taking pandemics seriously now that this trump administration is taking the needs of our people first and foremost!

    10. Ormyr on

      At this point, I’m okay with this. Humanity had its chance and decided to shoot itself in the face.

    11. The_GSingh on

      HU5K is unable to infect the general human population in its current form. The article is literally just saying “yea but a *mutation* could occur and make it infect humans”.

      Sure but some mutation(s) could also happen to the common cold and that could start the next pandemic as well. The type of mutation that they’re referring to is unlikely, the same way the common cold isn’t getting mutated to be the next Covid 19.

      Put the toilet paper back on the shelf and resume your lives, a new Covid-19 like pandemic could emerge today, or it could emerge in a decade. The mutations are random, but HU5K itself doesn’t make it more likely, you could find similar ones that with mutations could cause a pandemic.

    14. Zorothegallade on

      The next generation will be telling tales of the vampire uprising of 2030

    15. AllYourBase64Dev on

      for a small price of 50.99 you can get your 1 month supply of antihistamines that will combat your new permenant disease/ilness thank you big med!

    16. Major_Boot2778 on

      Honestly, and I don’t think I’m alone in this – I kinda miss quarantine.