[T-A]

Nobody noticed the precursors to SARS and MERS either, until those emerged in humans. But once they did, the precursors were quickly found in civets and camels, respectively.

A reminder: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/26/1021263/bat-covi...

[sudosysgen]

It took half a decade for SARS. It wasn't immediate by any stretch of the imagination.

[T-A]

> It took half a decade for SARS. It wasn't immediate by any stretch of the imagination.

It took less than a year from outbreak to publication:

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/302/5643/276