Group Group IV ((+)ssRNA) Family Coronaviridae Genus Betacoronavirus | Order Nidovirales Subfamily Coronavirinae Rank Species | |
Similar Betacoronavirus, Tylonycteris, Nidovirales, Coronaviridae, Lesser bamboo | ||
Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 (Bat-CoV HKU4) is an enveloped, positive sense, single-stranded RNA mammalian Group 2 betacoronavirus that has been found to be genetically related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is responsible for the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreaks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.
Transmission
The exact means of transmission to humans is not yet well known. However, it has been demonstrated that betaCoV's including HKU4 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.
References
Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA