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China’s ‘bat woman’ warns coronavirus is just the tip of the iceberg

Shi Zhengli, a virologist renowned for her work on coronavirus in bats, emphasized on the need for studying viruses among wild animals in advance to prevent another pandemic.

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Beijing: Shi Zhengli, a virologist renowned for her work on coronavirus in bats, said in an interview on Chinese state television that viruses being discovered now are “just the tip of the iceberg” and called for international cooperation in the fight against epidemics.

Known as China’s “bat woman,” the deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology said research into viruses needs scientists and governments to be transparent and cooperative, and that it is “very regrettable” when science is politicized.

“If we want to prevent human beings from suffering from the next infectious disease outbreak, we must go in advance to learn of these unknown viruses carried by wild animals in nature and give early warnings,” Shi told CGTN. “If we don’t study them there will possibly be another outbreak.”

Her interview with TV channel CGTN coincided with the start of the National People’s Congress, an annual meeting of China’s top leadership in Beijing. This year’s NPC comes as the country’s relationship with the U.S. turns increasingly frayed, with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo both saying the coronavirus sweeping the world is likely linked to the Wuhan laboratory.

China has rejected the accusations. Shi has said that the genetic characteristics of the viruses she’s worked with didn’t match those of the coronavirus spreading in humans. In a social media post, she wrote she would “swear on my life” the pandemic had nothing to do with her lab. In another interview with CGTN over the weekend, the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wang Yanyi, said the idea that the virus escaped from the lab was “pure fabrication.”

The outbreak has infected more than 5.4 million people worldwide and killed over 345,000.-Bloomberg


Also read: China reports 51 fresh coronavirus cases including 38 in Wuhan


 

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14 COMMENTS

  1. So people have been eating Annimal meats e.g.; chicken, cows, fish, eggs, frogs, goats, pigs, deer, horse, etc; for centuries. These Annimal meat eaters are not specifics to China; but includes all continents in all corners of this planet. Hasn’t biologists proved that plants also are living spices of the nature?.

  2. This warning is nothing but an attempt to mislead the world, like the nation this so called Batwomen is a faker acting at the instance of her dishonest nation, I don’t understand weren’t the Chinese eating bats before, than why was the outbreak of this virus happened only in November 2019.

  3. Yes, Chinese should first stop eating Bats, rats n snakes before advising others… And UN should give instructions to NATO countries to Bomb Wuhan with Nuclear Bomb to put a stop to the mysterious Viruses being developed there..

  4. First of all your country is eating all kinds of living beings even creepy things and also bats, snails and worms. Restrict your non vegetarian diets and follow the non vegetarian diet which is healthy and safe to eat. Otherwise there will be outbreak of new deadly viruses. Also it is better to be a vegetarian.

  5. You Chinese people stop eating bats and other shits than we dont need lunatic people like you to find out such virus and than spreading it to others

  6. First of all chinese people needs to stop eating bats, dogs, rats, snake and other obnoxious animals and then give advice to rest of the world.

  7. Boycott and stop the entry of chinese… No virus will spread through animal or lab..
    Dangerous to world

    • Just be aware that other countries can say the same about us for some other reason.
      Governments make mistakes. Don’t blame entire people for them.

      • But this mistake cost to all countries can anybody estimate .some trillions ignoring the Human loss which cant be valued by any one.

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