How do viruses evolve in bats? Bats have played a crucial epidemiological role in the evolution of many viruses and house many coronaviruses. Until 2002, coronaviruses had been known to cause mild respiratory ailments in human beings. However, this notion changed in the same year when a bat-borne virus caused the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic. Seventeen countries were severely affected, with the fatality rate for patients above 60 years reaching 50%. This epidemic was followed by the middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) epidemic in 2012 and, finally, the current pandemic that had spread to 192 countries and territories by the end of 2020. It is believed that bats were involved in each of these three episodes, although direct evidence regarding bats' role in the current pandemic is still lacking.