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Chinese researchers in a study suggested wild animals sold at the market were susceptible to Covid-19.
Chinese researchers have published an eagerly awaited analysis of the data collected from the Wuhan market in China, which has been at the centre of controversy regarding the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers found genetic material from wild animals in the swabs taken from the market taken in January 2020, which tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
…but the latest findings still fall short of providing definitive proof that SARS-CoV-2 originated from an animal-to-human spillover event,” the researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention believed in a report published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
There have been two widely debated theories globally about the origins of Covid-19 over whether the pandemic had a natural origin or it arose from a laboratory leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The published paper is among the latest analysis of the market samples, and the first to be peer-reviewed
The Chinese team was led by George Gao, former China CDC director, who said their study does not rule out that humans may have introduced the virus to the market. “While the study confirmed the existence of raccoon dogs and other animals susceptible to the virus at the market, the samples cannot prove that the animals were infected. Furthermore, even if the animals were infected, our study does not rule out that human-to-animal transmission occurred,” he said.
SOURCE:HINDUSTANTIMES
