According to new reports, the Covid-19 outbreak originated in the Wuhan market
Key Takeaways:
- Three new scientific studies, according to Nature, have unearthed new clues about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- A study conducted by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) last year largely debunked the theory that Covid-19 was created in a lab.
According to Nature, three new scientific studies have unearthed new clues about the beginnings of the Covid-19 pandemic, implying that the outbreak began in a market that sold live animals in Wuhan, China.
While two reports attribute the outbreak to a massive market in central China, the third report claims that the coronavirus infected humans at least "twice in November or December 2019." All 3 reports are preprints, which means they haven't been peer-reviewed yet.
"These findings support initial suspicions that the pandemic started at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which was frequented by many of the first SARS-CoV-2 infected people."
According to the report, the preprints include genetic analyses of coronavirus samples collected from the market and from infected people in December 2019 and January 2020, as well as geolocation analyses linking these samples to a market section where live animals were sold.
Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and an author on two of the reports was quoted as saying, "This is extremely strong evidence."
Last year, a joint study conducted by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) largely ruled out the theory that Covid-19 was created in a lab.
A WHO-led team of experts, alongside Chinese scientists, spent four weeks in and around Wuhan. As per a joint report, the Sars-CoV-2 virus was most likely transmitted from bats to humans through yet another animal. More study on the subject is required, according to the report.
The most recent studies do not provide conclusive evidence about what kind of animal may have harboured the virus before it spread to humans. "Raccoon dogs, a squat dog-like mammal used for food and fur in China, could be the culprits, according to Andersen."
According to one of the studies he co-authored, raccoon dogs were sold in a section of the market where several positive samples were collected. "Reports also show that the animals can harbor other types of coronaviruses," according to the Nature report.