A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China

Abstract (PubMed)

Emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Zika virus disease, present a major threat to public health. Despite the remarkable progress achieved in virus surveillance and developing new diagnostic tools for SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), our understanding of novel infectious agents, particularly their zoonotic host reservoirs and pandemic potential, remain unclear. Here we report a new bat-origin coronavirus that was isolated from a cluster of patients with pneumonia associated with Wuhan Seafood Market, Huanan. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole-genome sequence indicates that the bat coronaviruses and this new coronavirus are divergent. However, this virus is more closely related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV than to other coronaviruses. We report that this virus can efficiently be isolated from human airway epithelial cells and can use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor. Our work provides important insights into the potential zoonotic origin of the ongoing outbreak.