MERS was rigorously pinpointed because camels were filthy with it, it was a slam dunk. SARS-CoV-1 has never been rigorously pinpointed. Civets clearly got inf

MERS was rigorously pinpointed because camels were filthy with it, it was a slam dunk. SARS-CoV-1 has never been rigorously pinpointed. Civets clearly got infected with it, but its not clear if they were infected by bats first or were infected by humans (similarly to minks and SARS-CoV-2). It wasn't until 2013 when WIV1 was isolated and is the most likely related virus in bats in Yunnan. WIV1 may be able to infect humans directly, but it is only 95% homologous with SARS-CoV-1. The WIV1 sample was also found in bats in the same province as the RaTG13 virus which is closest overall so far to SARS-CoV-2, but the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak happened about 700+ miles away in Guangdong. It still isn't clear how that happened, just a lot of handwaving about the movement of animals like civets around China.