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It wouldn’t be surprising, given that many viruses have been linked to bats, including the Ebola, Marburg, Nipah and Hendra viruses, as well as coronaviruses like SARS-1 and MERS.

She wrote that the flaws in preparation meant the emergency of Covid-19 - a coronavirus like Sars or Mers, not an influenza virus - caused a greater number of deaths and more economic damage than it should have.

Baroness Hallett's report contrasted the approach taken by the UK with countries in East Asia which had learnt from outbreaks of two coronaviruses – Sars and Mers – over the past two decades.

Another issue Lady Hallett is likely to address is why the government failed to act on the recommendations made when the civil service ran Exercise Alice, in 2016, simulating a major Mers outbreak.

The long list of so-called zoonotic transmissions includes Ebola, SARS-1, MERS, Lyme disease and most likely, SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.