3 ms·

There are tons of horseshoe bats in Hubei, that particular misunderstanding needs to go away.

mikeyouse 4y ago
Too late to edit, but here's an article from 2018 following a group of scientists into a cave 60 miles from Wuhan to study horseshoe bats: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002326/how-chinas-bat-caves-hold-the-secret-to-preventing-epidemics https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002326/how-chinas-bat-caves-... Unfortunately for us, tons of bats carry viruses of all types and some of them are literally found on the campus of the WIV: 18.5% of Japanese housebats sampled in one study had beta coronaviruses: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9ScdVXsAIZntp?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9ScdVXsAIZntp?format=png&name=... Those bats are regularly collected for study at the same academic complex that hosts the WIV: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9U624XoAAvQol?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9U624XoAAvQol?format=png&name=...
- tripletao 4y ago
  There are bats almost everywhere in the world, including Wuhan. The question isn't bats, but bats carrying sarbecoviruses related to SARS-CoV-2, not just betacoronaviruses. Dr. Shi herself has stated that she didn't expect such bats anywhere near Wuhan: > We have done bat virus surveillance in Hubei Province for many years, but have not found that bats in Wuhan or even the wider Hubei Province carry any coronaviruses that are closely related to SARS-CoV-2. I don't think the spillover from bats to humans occurred in Wuhan or in Hubei Province. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206204844/https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Shi%20Zhengli%20Q%26A.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20201206204844/https://www.scien... I've responded to you with this link before, and you didn't reply. It begins to feel like you are willfully disregarding all evidence contrary to your predetermined view, which is unfortunate.
kaitaincps 4y ago
The WIV was not set up in Wuhan to study bats in Hubei. That is a total misconception. It was set up in 1956 with no connection whatsoever to bat-borne sarbecoviruses. That specialization arose later, but studies were made principally in Yunnan province. There is no connection between the bat specialization of the WIV and its location in Hubei.

Too late to edit, but here's an article from 2018 following a group of scientists into a cave 60 miles from Wuhan to study horseshoe bats: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002326/how-chinas-bat-caves-hold-the-secret-to-preventing-epidemics https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002326/how-chinas-bat-caves-... Unfortunately for us, tons of bats carry viruses of all types and some of them are literally found on the campus of the WIV: 18.5% of Japanese housebats sampled in one study had beta coronaviruses: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9ScdVXsAIZntp?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9ScdVXsAIZntp?format=png&name=... Those bats are regularly collected for study at the same academic complex that hosts the WIV: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9U624XoAAvQol?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9U624XoAAvQol?format=png&name=...

tripletao 4y ago
There are bats almost everywhere in the world, including Wuhan. The question isn't bats, but bats carrying sarbecoviruses related to SARS-CoV-2, not just betacoronaviruses. Dr. Shi herself has stated that she didn't expect such bats anywhere near Wuhan: > We have done bat virus surveillance in Hubei Province for many years, but have not found that bats in Wuhan or even the wider Hubei Province carry any coronaviruses that are closely related to SARS-CoV-2. I don't think the spillover from bats to humans occurred in Wuhan or in Hubei Province. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206204844/https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Shi%20Zhengli%20Q%26A.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20201206204844/https://www.scien... I've responded to you with this link before, and you didn't reply. It begins to feel like you are willfully disregarding all evidence contrary to your predetermined view, which is unfortunate.

kaitaincps 4y ago

The WIV was not set up in Wuhan to study bats in Hubei. That is a total misconception. It was set up in 1956 with no connection whatsoever to bat-borne sarbecoviruses. That specialization arose later, but studies were made principally in Yunnan province. There is no connection between the bat specialization of the WIV and its location in Hubei.