COVID-19 origins may never be clear, bat scientists say

All eyes are on the scientists exploring the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. But bat virus researchers, still searching for answers to the 2003 SARS outbreak, say there may never be an answer, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 11.

The virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome appeared in 2002 and has killed nearly 800 people worldwide. Linfa Wang, PhD, director of emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, was part of a team convened by the World Health Organization to investigate the origin of the virus in 2003.

Dr Wang, an expert in bat virus, has spent more than a decade working with researchers in China looking for evidence that the virus has spread from bats to humans.

“There is still no smoking gun,” Dr Wang told the Newspaper. “We have never found a bat that is the source of SARS in humans.”

Now Dr Wang is also helping to explore the origins of COVID-19. Earlier this year, he helped conduct research on horseshoe bats in Thailand, some of which have tested positive for coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2. But it is still far from being a conclusive observation, the Newspaper mentionned.

“We may never know,” said Dr Wang. “We will continue to search.”