Chinese “bat” researcher warns that the deadly coronavirus currently emerging is “just the tip of the iceberg” in terms of what humans could soon face without a global effort to prevent similar infectious epidemics.
“If we want to prevent humans from suffering from the next epidemic of infectious diseases, we must go ahead to find out more about these unknown viruses carried by wild animals in the wild and give early warnings,” Shi Zhengli, a leading Chinese scientist specializing in viral transmission of bats. , he told CGTN in an interview aired on Monday.
“If we don’t study [the viruses], there may be another epidemic, “said Shi, whom the press called” bat woman “because of her research on mammals.
The coronavirus has killed more than 345,000 people worldwide since it first appeared in Wuhan, China, late last year.
Wuhan’s laboratory, where Shi is deputy director, is believed to have accidentally triggered the virus in humans. China has also been accused of not realizing the danger early enough and of constantly lying about the price of the virus for its citizens.
Shi denied that his lab was involved in the pandemic, saying the strains he studied were different.