Blame – Bats, Politics and a Planet out of Balance…

This account of the link between science, politics, and the media begins in 2003 when Hong Kong was declared the starting point of the 21st century’s first major epidemic – the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Three researchers examine the hypothesis that bats are the natural reservoir of the SARS virus, like the hypothesis that COVID-19 originated in a cave in Yunnan province, China, years later. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic thrusts Linfa Wang, Zhengli Shi, and Peter Daszak into an unprecedented media spotlight. The fourth player in this drama is the animal with a reputation in the West for instilling fear and horror though inhabiting the earth for over 5 million years.