© USA Today
(77WABC) —A new study says a COVID virus relative that was originally found in Russian bats may be capable of infecting human cells.
The study — published in the journal PLOS Pathogens — also showed that this virus is resistant to the antibodies of people vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2—which causes COVID-19 — in lab tests.
The researchers say the study’s findings demonstrate that sarbecoviruses in wildlife outside of Asia pose “a threat to global health,” as well as to ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Sarbecoviruses are a group of coronaviruses that includes SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and several hundred genetically similar viruses found mostly in bats.
