Studies offer further evidence that the coronavirus pandemic began in animals in Wuhan market
CTV
Two preprint studies posted Saturday offer further evidence that the coronavirus originated in animals and spread to humans in late 2019 at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China.
One of the studies -- neither of which has been peer-reviewed or published in a professional journal -- used spatial analysis to show that the earliest known COVID-19 cases, diagnosed in December 2019, were centered on the market.
The researchers also report that environmental samples that tested positive for the virus, SARS-CoV-2, were strongly associated with live-animal vendors.
The other study says the two major viral lineages were the result of at least two events in which the virus crossed species into humans. The first transmission most likely happened in late November or early December 2019, the researchers say, and the other lineage was probably introduced within weeks of the first event.
Experts have roundly condemned the theory of a laboratory origin for the virus, saying that there's no proof of such origins or of a leak.
