Two new studies have emerged that unambiguously link the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, to the origins of the COVID-19 virus, showing that the virus evolved from the animals sold in the market and that it was not a creation of a lab.
The findings, which were published online as preprints in February, have reportedly undergone peer review. They appeared in the journal Science on Tuesday.
The animal market in Wuhan was most likely the Covid’s epicentre, despite the fact that the two research’ methods were different.
What did the initial study conclude?
Data were gathered in the first study by Chinese researchers, evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey, and their colleagues from the University of Arizona usingmapping tools and a social media app to determine the spatial and environmental analysis.
Although they stated that the ‘precise circumstances remain murky,’ they asserted that the coronavirus was probably present in live animals sold at the market in late 2019.
According to the AP news agency, Worobey stated during a press conference that ‘this is an indicator that the virus started spreading in those who worked at the market but then started to move into the local community.’
The researchers asserted that market vendors who sold these live animals or customers who made purchases there were the source of the early COVID-19 infections. They think that the two distinct viruses that infected people were circulating in the animals.
‘All eight COVID-19 cases detected prior to December 20 were from the western side of the market, where mammal species were also sold,’ the study says.
The second research says,
However, the other study uses microscopic analysis to pinpoint the exact time the first coronavirus infection spread from animals to humans, beginning with the earliest sample genomes in December 2019 and continuing through mid-February 2020.
This study suggests that the coronavirus likely had two lineages, known as A and B, in its early forms. It stated that at least two cross-species transmission events into humans were the cause of these lineages.
According to the study, the initial animal-to-human transmission most likely originated from lineage B and took place around November 18, 2019. People who had a direct link to the animal market were found to be lineage B types.
They suggest that lineage A was introduced into humans from an animal within weeks or even days of the infection from lineage B. This lineage was found in samples from humans who lived or stayed close to the market.
‘These findings indicate that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019 and define the narrow window between when SARS-CoV-2 first jumped into humans and when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported,’ the study says.
‘As with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 emergence likely resulted from multiple zoonotic events.’
The scientists concluded by hoping that they can determine exactly what animal may have become first infected and how to reduce the chances of future pandemics.
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