Scientists tracking how the deadly new coronavirus leapt from animals to humans said the likely source of the infection is bats, underscoring the health risks associated with humans’ increasing push into the habitats of wild animals. The 2019 novel coronavirus marks the third leap of its kind in 20 years following the SARS virus, which moved from bats to a mammal called a civet and then to humans beginning in 2002, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, which was transmitted from camels in 2012.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 06, 2020 14:03 UTC