This is speculative AT BEST.
No science. Just opinion.
FTR, @gatto, @Wanderfound and others discussing zoonoses:
To the best of my knowledge, the pangolin hypothesis is bullshit. Also TTBOMK, the virus didn’t jump from bats to humans, but there was at least one other mammal in between.
And VERY much for the record: it isn’t a zoonosis any more. This is a human infectious disease. The virus has evolved to human hosts, an jumping a species barrier is (mostly) quite difficult. There is a report from a cat in Belgium, and one of a dog in Hong Kong which TTBOMK was not holding up to scrunity.
ETA: seen this is covered above. Some word to @anon62122146: while I am all in favour of closing markets selling wildlife, you cannot simply “stop”. China has an authoritarian regime, but even them can’t.
Also, in case of SARS 2003, it is not unlikely the infection came via racoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides). These are bred on a large scale for the international market. Got a jacket with fur on the rim of the hood? Possibly racoon dog from China.
I suggest that everyone stops shouting what Chinese should do to prevent emerging diseases. Especially if it isn’t at all clear what and how something can be prevented. But also in general, because theses things are complicated, and we need to focus for possible solutions.
And I don’t know about you, but with all that FUD at the moment, I, for one, can’t properly focus.
