Chinese investigators have found that illegally traded wild animals triggered the COVID-19 pandemic. The cages that are typically used for transporting animals had tested positive for the coronavirus. The genetic material from the swab was examined by international specialists who claimed that the virus was started by illegally traded wild animals, which were sold for food and fur in markets. According to the study, genetic material from animals that were not thought to be virus susceptible predominated in other positive swabs. The report provided the most conclusive proof of other animals susceptible to the virus being sold at the market. The report’s methodologies were sound and the team’s analysis suggested that the virus was probably carried by the animal and being transmitted to people at the market. The report has sparked a fight over access to the genetic codes that underlie it.
Chinese investigators have released a report detailing that illegally traded wild animals triggered the coronavirus pandemic, according to The New York Times. A team of investigators from China, on January 12, 2020, searched a market in Wuhan for clues regarding the emergence of a new illness. The team found that cages typically used for transporting animals had tested positive for coronavirus.
Genetic material from the swab of the cart was uploaded to a global database and was examined three years later by a group of international specialists. In a study released on Monday, the scientists said that the evidence supports their contention that the coronavirus pandemic was started by illegally traded wild animals.
After the international team approached the Chinese researchers who had uploaded the raw data, they requested that it be taken down from the database. Database administrators have now denied access to the international researchers in response to what they claimed were rules violations. This raises concerns about the database’s own role in the struggle for access to information that could provide insight into the origins of a virus that has killed seven million people.
The report states that the swab from the cart held more than 4,500 lengthy fragments of raccoon dog genetic material in addition to coronavirus genetic signatures. None of these genetic materials were from people. Some COVID-positive swabs from other items and market surfaces also contained more genetic material from animals than from people.
It should be noted that animals themselves were not necessarily infected just because genetic material from the virus was discovered in the same location as animal genetic traces. However, some scientists who read the report noted that the prevalence of genetic material from animals, particularly raccoon dogs, indicated that species known to be able to spread the coronavirus were carrying infections at the market in late 2019.
Overall, the research provides compelling evidence that the coronavirus pandemic originated from illegally traded wild animals in Wuhan, China.
Study Suggests Virus May Have Originated From Market Animals
According to a report by The New York Times, a team of international specialists have discovered evidence suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic might have originated from illegally traded wild animals. The team examined genetic material from a swab taken from a market in Wuhan, China in January 2020. They found that cages used for transporting animals had tested positive for coronavirus, which was similar to the scenario that led to the first SARS epidemic in China two decades earlier.
The study’s findings were presented to the World Health Organization last week and sparked intense speculation over the origins of the virus. The team of scientists found genetic material from raccoon dogs in addition to coronavirus genetic signatures on the swab. The report stated that the genetic material from the swab could indicate that the substance originated from a raccoon dog’s upper respiratory tract.
The research has raised concerns over access to the genetic codes that underlie the study. The Chinese researchers first uploaded the raw sequences to a global database, but the material was taken offline after the international experts made their discovery in early March and informed Chinese researchers. The WHO censured China last week for withholding important information from the rest of the world. The Munich-based nonprofit GISAID, which manages the database, is currently under fire for its involvement in regulating data access.
The international team of scientists claimed that by allowing the Chinese researchers to withhold the data for such a prolonged period of time, GISAID had “deviated from its stated mission,” according to the new report. In response to the story on Tuesday, the database administrators disabled the team members’ access to their online accounts and claimed they had broken the rules by posting their own analysis before the Chinese scientists had finished.
Overall, the study provides new evidence that suggests the virus may have originated from market animals. However, it should be noted that even if an animal had the disease, it might not be obvious that it had exposed humans to the infection. The market was cleared of animals shortly after the outbreak started, and scientists were unable to determine whether an animal had been infected by swabbing it directly. More information about the origins of the virus in the samples may still be found in the swab.
Study Finds Conclusive Evidence of Susceptible Animals at Wuhan Market
A team of international specialists has discovered genetic material that suggests the coronavirus pandemic may have originated from illegally traded wild animals. They found that cages used for transporting animals at a Wuhan market had tested positive for coronavirus. The team focused on raccoon dogs, which are known to transmit viruses, and are sold at the market for their flesh and fur. They claimed that their research supported the theory that the virus, which originated in bats, was being carried by the animal and transmitted to people at the market.
The report also provided conclusive proof of other animals susceptible to the virus being sold at the market. Swabs that tested positive for coronavirus contained genetic material from those animals, including the masked palm civet, a small Asian mammal that was connected to the SARS epidemic 20 years ago.
However, the report could not identify which mammal was infected with the virus. The study’s results have been useful but have not provided concrete evidence of an infected animal, according to Sergei Pond, a virologist at Temple University in Philadelphia.
The team’s findings have raised concerns over access to the genetic codes that underlie the study. Chinese researchers first uploaded the raw sequences to a global database, but the material was taken offline after the international experts made their discovery in early March and informed Chinese researchers. The WHO censured China last week for withholding important information from the rest of the world.
In response to the story on Tuesday, the database administrators disabled the team members’ access to their online accounts and claimed they had broken the rules by posting their own analysis before the Chinese scientists had finished. Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and a co-author of the report, noted that the database’s actions also jeopardized team members’ work related to coronavirus variants and flu preparedness, adding that “the ramifications of cutting off access to this group of authors are huge.”
The study demonstrated that the presence of large quantities of animal genetic material did not imply that the virus was created by animals in that location. A sample obtained from the surface of fish packaging revealed a significant amount of fish genetic material, suggesting that the virus was probably human-deposited. However, large amounts of human genetic material were discovered in several other swabs from the market, which the study said was evidence that some virus samples were probably being shed by infected individuals. Many of the earliest known COVID-19 patients either worked or shopped at the market.
Overall, the study provides new evidence that the virus may have originated from susceptible animals at the Wuhan market. The report’s findings and their implications for understanding the virus’s origins have sparked intense speculation and have raised concerns over data access.
The results of the Chinese researchers’ swabs mentioned in the international team’s report contained significant amounts of human genetic material, indicating that the filtering techniques used had not removed all human material from the samples. This was despite a Chinese paper the previous year detailing the use of a kit to remove human genetic material and increase the tests’ sensitivity to the virus. The report’s methodologies were deemed sound by a microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania who stated that the simplest answer is that it’s an infected raccoon dog, but added that it’s not absolute proof. Without additional information on the Chinese researchers’ methods, it is impossible to evaluate the results, according to a microbiologist from Stanford. Such kits are usually ineffective at erasing people’s genetic signatures, said an expert in the analysis detailed in the report.
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