Scientists believe they've uncovered the true origin of the Covid pandemic — and have rejected the popular theory that the virus was leaked from a laboratory.
A major international study published today insists that the virus began life in a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China, rather than in a scientific experiment.
Researchers tested genetic samples of animals that were sold in Wuhan market stalls in 2019 and found traces of the Covid virus in some species.
They argue that this is the first time scientists have pinpointed the animals that may have been responsible for transmission to humans.
‘This adds another layer to the accumulating evidence that all points to the same scenario: that infected animals were introduced into the market in mid- to late November 2019, which sparked the pandemic,’ said author of the study Kristian Andersen from Scripps Research.
ndersen from Scripps Research.
The raccoon dog, a fox-like animal common in East Asia, was suggested to be the biggest carrier of the virus.
Other animals such as masked palm civets, hoary bamboo rats and Malayan porcupines were also found to be carrying Covid-19 before it spread to humans.
This is not a definitive list as many of the key animal species were cleared out from the market before the Chinese health team arrived, said Florence Débarre of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, who led the study.
The scientists note that many of the early cases in Wuhan, a city of 12 million people, were workers from the market.
Debate has raged about the source of the pandemic that claimed 7 million lives globally and over 200,000 in the UK.
The alternative theory is that the pandemic was caused by a leak from one of the laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
This theory gained traction after the Director of the FBI Christopher Wray said the bureau believes Covid-19 'most likely' originated in a 'Chinese government-controlled lab'.
President Biden failed to shut down the lab leak conspiracy after he ordered an investigation into the theory.
Following the publication of this latest study scientists now insist that the pandemic did originate at the market as originally reported.
The study is based on a new analysis of data released by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The data came from more than 800 samples collected in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale market beginning on January 1, 2020, and from genetic samples reported from early COVID-19 patients.
On January 1, 2020, after the animals were removed and just hours after the market was closed, investigators from the Chinese CDC went to the market to collect samples.