
Although the origins of the new coronavirus leading to COVID-19 is still not understood, many experts believe the virus likely began in bats. While bats are a source of some dangerous viruses — including SARS-like coronaviruses and Ebola — there is nothing special about bats that makes their viruses more likely to infect humans, according to a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"Mixing large numbers of species under poor hygienic and welfare conditions, and species that wouldn't normally come close together gives opportunities for pathogens to jump species to species," Andrew Cunningham of the Zoological Society of London recently told the BBC.