“Our results provide the strongest evidence to date,” Shi’s team wrote, “that Chinese horseshoe bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV,” and that intermediate hosts might not be necessary for SARS-like coronaviruses to pass from bats to humans. “They also highlight the importance of pathogen-discovery programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots as a strategy for pandemic preparedness.” Six years before the pandemic, Zhengli Shi was saying: People, get ready.
