Coronavirus is just tip of the iceberg, says China's 'Bat Woman'

A virologist well known for her work on coronavirus in bats, Shi Zhengli, stated in an interview that viruses being found now are "just the tip of the iceberg" and appealed for international collaboration in the battle against epidemics.

Referred to as China’s ‘bat woman,’ the deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology stated that experimentation with viruses requires scientists and governments to be transparant and collaborative, and that it is very unfortunate when science is politicized.

"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," Shi Zhengli told CGTN. "If we don't study them there will possibly be another outbreak."

Zhengli’s interview occured simultaneously with the start of the National People’s Congress, an annual meeting of China’s top leadership in Beijing. This time NCP comes as the nation’s tie with the United States turned increasingly tensed , with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both stating that the coronavirus is likely linked with the Wuhan lab.

However, China dismissed the accusations. Shi Zhengli has stated that the genetic attributes of the virus she has worked with did not look like those of the coronavirus spreading in human. In a social media post, Shi wrote, swear on my life the pandemic had nothing to do with her laboratory.

In another interview over the weekend, Wang Yanyi, the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology stated that the idea that the virus broke out from the lave was ‘pure fabrication’.

Also Read: Now, China's relations with Israel are in steep decline