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mk · 1534 days ago · link · · parent · post: A bioterror or bioerror will lead to one million casualties in a single event within a six month period starting no later than Dec 31, 2020.
Much higher.
- However, the ACE2-binding activity of SL-CoVs was easily acquired by the replacement of a relatively small sequence segment of the S protein from the SARS-CoV S sequence, highlighting the potential dangers posed by this diverse group of viruses in bats. It is now well documented that bat species, including horseshoe bats, can be infected by different CoVs. Coinfection by different CoVs in an individual bat has also been observed (26, 29, 39). Knowing the capability of different CoVs to recombine both in the laboratory (2, 14, 15, 32) and in nature (22, 41, 44), the possibility that SL-CoVs may gain the ability to infect human cells by acquiring S sequences competent for binding to ACE2 or other surface proteins of human cells can be readily envisaged.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2258702/
That's from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2008. There are many more crumbs on that path.