Of more than 1,000 samples taken from a market in Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have started, 73 tested positive for coronavirus. At the same time, in the southwestern part of the market, where the most positive samples were taken, wild animals were indeed sold. Chinese scientists published in the journal Nature, the first results of analyzes taken on the market three years ago.
A market in Wuhan that sold seafood and wild animals has been considered a possible source of the spread of coronavirus since the early months of the outbreak, which began in December 2019. However, Chinese authorities have been criticized on several occasions. times for refusing to disclose full details of the investigation and analysis of samples taken from this market.
Today, a team of Chinese scientists led by the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention George Gao published the results of these analyzes in a peer-reviewed scientific journal for the first time in three years. They cite the results of samples taken from shelves, various surfaces, animal cages and mechanisms used in the market soon after the spread of the coronavirus began.
In total, in January-March 2020, they took 1380 samples from the market for the presence of coronavirus. It was detected in 73 samples (none in the animal samples), mostly taken from the southwestern part of the market, where illegal wildlife trade was suspected.
Scientists have shown that in some samples taken from places where wild animals are sold, the coronavirus has been detected. In addition, they reported that some wild animals capable of carrying the coronavirus, including raccoon dogs, were actually sold alive in these places. However, the authors acknowledge that the data collected is not sufficient to make a definitive statement on what became the source of the coronavirus in the market. This means that it remains more likely that the virus was introduced to the market by an infected person rather than by a wild animal.
This contradicts recent suggestions made by an international team of researchers based on the study of genetic material that the virus could have been brought to market by wild animals. “The evidence obtained in our study is insufficient to support this hypothesis. Our study confirms the presence of raccoon dogs and other animals potentially susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 on the market before it closed. However, these external samples cannot be used as proof that the animals have been infected. Additionally, if these animals were infected, our study does not rule out human-to-animal transmission of the virus,” the study states.
However, a number of experts believe that the publication by Chinese scientists instead points to the animal origin of the coronavirus in the Wuhan market. “Most importantly, this significant dataset is now published and available for others to process,” said Professor David Robertson of the University of Glasgow, who has been researching the genetics of the coronavirus since its massive outbreak. in 2020. According to him, the contents of the samples are “strong evidence that the animals in the market were infected with the coronavirus”. “If you add this to the fact that the first cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan were associated with the market, it becomes strong evidence that the spread was from an animal in the market,” explain he is BBC.
Earlier, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray said the United States considers the most likely cause for the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic to be a leak from a lab in Wuhan, which was controlled by the Chinese. authorities. The Chinese government is doing its best to try to obfuscate the investigation into the causes of the pandemic, Rei said.
