China's 'Batwoman' Virologist Warns That COVID-19 Is Just One Of More Possible Outbreaks

"If we don't study them, there will possibly be another outbreak and we wouldn't know about them."

Cover image via AFP/New Straits Times & AP/The Washington Post

Shi Zhengli, a Chinese virologist renowned for her work on coronaviruses in bats, has warned that the viruses being discovered now are "just the tip of the iceberg"

In an interview with China's state television CGTN, Shi said her team's 15 years of work on these pathogens have shown other coronaviruses could pose a threat to humans.

"The unknown viruses that we have discovered are actually just the tip of the iceberg," said Shi, who is the deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Shi and her team were responsible for identifying the natural bat reservoir where the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus that caused the 2003 outbreak originated, after searching caves around the country for samples. The work made her famous as China's 'batwoman'.

"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," she told CGTN.

"These viruses exist in nature whether you want to admit it or not. If we don't study them, there will possibly be another outbreak and we wouldn't know about them."

Her warning comes in the midst of accusations from the United States that the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, is linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology

According to New Straits Times, China's relationship with the US has turned increasingly frayed, as President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo both said that the coronavirus originated from Shi's lab without providing evidence.

Shi's interview with CGTN also coincided with the start of the National People's Congress, an annual meeting of China's top leadership in Beijing, that will address this strained relation.

Both China and Shi have rejected the coronavirus conspiracy theories

Shi wrote in a social media post that she would "swear on my life" the current pandemic has nothing to do with her lab.

She has said that the genetic characteristics of the viruses she has worked with did not match those of SARS-CoV-2 that is spreading in humans.

South China Morning Post reported that the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wang Yanyi, also had an interview with CGTN over the weekend and said the idea of the virus escaping from their institute was "pure fabrication".

Wang said their lab held just three live coronavirus strains from bats, and their highest similarity to SARS-CoV-2 was only 79.8%.

While the origin of the novel coronavirus remains unknown, Shi said it was "regrettable" to mix science with politics

She, instead, called for international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, and said scientists and governments had to be transparent and cooperative to move forward in infectious disease research.

"The work in the lab, including collecting samples in the field and setting up early warning models, needs scientists from different fields with different experience," she said.

"One small team can't do this sort of work alone."

The pandemic has infected more than 5.6 million people worldwide and killed over 352,000.