According to the Aug. 2 lawsuit filed before the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, EcoHealth and its president, Peter Daszak, knew the virus was "capable of causing a worldwide pandemic."

Not only did EcoHealth help to create a 'genetically manipulated virus,' the lawsuit claims, it worked to cover up the origins of the outbreak.

"If we had known the source or origin of this virus and had not been misled that it was from a pangolin in a wet market, and rather we knew that it was a genetically manipulated virus, and that the scientists involved were concealing that from our clients, the outcome could have been very different," victims' attorney Patricia Finn told the NY Post.

The families of Mary Conroy, of Pennsylvania; Emma D. Holley, of Rochester, NY; Larry Carr, of Crossville, Tennessee; and Raul Osuna, of Bennington, Nebraska, are seeking unspecified damages.

"[The families of the deceased] are definitely in mourning, but moreover they're enraged because the truth of what really happened appears to be coming forward," Finn added.

Paul Rinker, of Pennsylvania, is also suing Midtown-based EcoHealth and Daszak over the "serious injuries" he suffered from his bout with the bug.

Finn is also suing EcoHealth and Daszak in Nassau and Rockland Counties on behalf of the families of other victims killed by the virus, as well as two who survived.