COVID-like virus, Khosta 2, found in Russian bats; scientists say current vaccines ineffective against it

Just as we were heaving a sigh of relief with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief's statement that the COVID pandemic's end is in sight, a new COVID-like virus has been found.

Known as Khosta 2, this virus is able to resist the current COVID vaccine.

A research article published in the journal PLoS pathogens has made startling revelations about the virus.

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Khosta 2 virus was found in late 2020. "In late 2020, two clade 3 sarbecoviruses were identified in Rhinolophus bats in Russia: Khosta-1 was found in Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Khosta 2 in R. hipposideros," the research report says.

The virus was identified by Alkhovsky and colleagues in bat samples collected between March-October 2020 near Sochi National Park. It was during this time, the entire world was preparing itself to fight against novel coronavirus which causes the COVID. Nationwide lockdown was imposed in several countries to contain the spread of the infectious virus.

The study has found that there are two types of Khosta viruses: Khosta virus 1 and khosta virus 2. "While these two viruses are in a viral lineage distinct from SARS-CoV-1 and -2, the RBD from one virus, Khosta 2, was capable of using human ACE2 to facilitate cell entry," the study says.

The RBD or the receptor binding domain is where the sarbecovirus mixes up with receptor molecules on the human cells and mediates cell invasion.

Initially it was thought to be harmless, but a closer study has found that it can infect human beings.

"Khosta-2, a sarbecovirus discovered in Russia, has been shown to interact with the same entry receptor as SARS-CoV-2," say scientists. "We found that the spike from virus, Khosta-2, could infect cells similar to human pathogens using the same entry mechanisms," they have added.

The researchers who have studied the Khosta virus have found that:

The Khosta bat sarbecoviruses are genetically distinct from human SARS-CoVs in that they lack genetic information encoding for some of the genes thought to antagonize the immune system and contribute to pathogenicity, such as Orf8.

In simple words, unlike the COVID causing coronavirus, the Khosta 2 virus lacks the ability to cause serious disease in humans. However, it could infect and cause serious diseases in human beings if it gets mixed with genes of COVID causing coronavirus. In that case, its transmission rate will also be another headache for health watchers.

Yes, it does.

The study has found that none of the human antibodies produced by the vaccine or by prior infection could neutralise the virus. This is a clear indication that neither current COVID vaccines nor prior infection from COVID can provide any degree of protection to the individual from Khosta 2 virus.

As of now, no information is available on the infection, the severity of the infection and the symptoms shown when Khosta 2 virus infects a human being.