Covid origin clues

DATA from the early days of the Covid19 pandemic, briefly uploaded to a global database by Chinese scientists, gives crucial information on the outbreak’s origins, including of an animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, researchers said.

The virus was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019, with many suspecting the Huanan live animal market to be the source, before spreading round the world and killing nearly 7 million people.

The data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer available on the Gisaid database. It comprised new sequences of the Sars-CoV-2 virus and additional genomic data based on samples taken from a live animal market in Wuhan in 2020, said scientists who accessed it.

The sequences showed raccoon dogs and other animals were in the market and may have been infected, providing a new clue in the chain of transmission that reached humans. The World Health Organization said the information was not conclusive but did represent a new lead. |