The Covid-19 pandemic, which has swept the world since 2020, may not end anytime soon. Although researchers have been successful in developing vaccines to combat the disease, it has been tricky to engage the virus, especially with the emergence of new variants.
Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “Batwoman” for her studies of animal-based viruses, warned of a novel coronavirus that could emerge in the near future. Shi highlighted the need for greater global preparedness to combat those outbreaks, drawing lessons from the tragic Covid-19 pandemic.
Shi is director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and has been reading about coronaviruses for more than 20 years. She was also nicknamed “Batwoman”.
Shi and his colleagues assessed the threat of human spread from 40 species of coronaviruses, and some of them were deemed “very threatening. “They published a paper at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in July 2023, which was then analyzed in a paper in the South. China Morning Post.
Of those 40 coronavirus species, six already have diseases that have inflamed humans, and another 3 have inflamed other animal species.
The study warns of the long-term onset of a disease that is safe and has a high probability of becoming a coronavirus disease again. Shi’s study focuses on an investigation of viral characteristics such as population, genetic diversity, host species, and any history of zoonoses. The researchers also knew of important hosts of the pathogen. These hosts included plant hosts such as bats and rodents.
Rapid and sensitive equipment has also been developed to enable active surveillance of these high-risk viruses.
The SCMP report mentions that this month, Shi’s studio work gained a lot of attention on Chinese social media. It was also around this time that the U. S. federal firm made the decision to ban investment in the WIV for the next 10 years. Some U. S. officials accuse the Wuhan Institute of Virology of conducting risky gain-of-function experiments with coronaviruses on bats. They also warned that the pandemic that swept the world in 2020 seeped out of the Chinese lab. However, there is no undeniable evidence that the lab leak theory can be found, according to U. S. intelligence documents.
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 4. 5 million people and affected more than 230 million people worldwide. Shi’s caution comes at a time when the world is still suffering from the influence of the virus.