An average of about 400,000 people are infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARSr-CoVs) annually in South and Southeast Asia, according to a new study.

The study by researchers at Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School and US-based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance showed that emerging diseases caused by coronaviruses of likely bat origin (for example SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome, swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus and Covid-19) have disrupted global health and economies for two decades.