Three novel coronaviruses that are capable of causing severe disease have emerged in human populations in the 21st century.
The 2003 severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the 2012 Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) foreshadowed the emergence potential of zoonotic coronaviruses. In December 2019, a strain of coronavirus that was 22% different from the 2003 SARS-CoV, later named severe acute respiratory syndrome strain 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, China.
RALPH BARIC QUESTIONS BACKGROUND
“Nevertheless, speculation about accidental laboratory escape will likely persist, given the large collections of bat virome samples stored in labs in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility’s proximity to the early outbreak, and the operating procedures at the facility (Zeng et al., 2016). Transparency and open scientific investigation will be essential to resolve this issue, noting that forensic evidence of natural escape is currently lacking, and other explanations remain reasonable”
- Reference: SARS-CoV-2: Combating Coronavirus Emergence (Graham & Baric, 2020)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7207110/
Source: D.R.A.S.T.I.C.