A research team in China has published an analysis of samples taken from the market more than three years ago in connection with the Covid-19 outbreak.
A research team in China has published an analysis of samples taken from the market more than three years ago in connection with the Covid-19 outbreak.
The peer-reviewed study, which includes the research findings and published in the journal Nature, shows that animal DNA was found in samples collected from areas where wild animals are sold and that tested positive for coronavirus.
The Huanan seafood and wildlife market had been the focus of the investigation into the source of the coronavirus.
However, this study was the first peer-reviewed study on biological evidence from the market in 2020.
Associating the virus with market animals may open up new areas of questioning about how the epidemic started. The research reveals that swab samples that test positive for coronavirus also contain genetic material from wild animals.
Some scientists consider this to be proof that the disease was transmitted from an infected animal to a human. Other researchers say caution should be exercised in interpreting the findings.
The question of why it took three years for the genetic content of the samples to be disclosed to the public also awaits an answer.
Another theory centers on the claim that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.
‘NO DEFINITE EVIDENCE’
The Chinese research team published the first version of their study online in February, but not all of the genetic information contained in the samples collected from the market was published.
Later, another international research team noticed that the genetic sequences were published on a scientific data sharing site and shared their own assessment of what these important samples from the animal market revealed.
This new analysis, which was confirmed by other scientists before being published in the journal Nature, contains important details about the contents of these samples collected from the stalls, cages and machinery inside the market.
The article by the Chinese research team showed that some samples collected from areas where wild animals were sold tested positive for coronavirus.
Analyzes also showed that animals known to be susceptible to the virus, especially raccoon dogs, were sold live in this market. However, Chinese researchers stated that the findings they obtained in their studies were insufficient to definitively prove how the epidemic started.
“These environmental samples cannot prove that animals were infected,” the article says. The possibility remains that the virus was brought to market by an infected person rather than an animal.
University of Glasgow virologist Professor David Robertson, who has been involved in genetic research into the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since it emerged in 2020, said: “It is very important that this very important dataset is now published and that others can study it.”
Robertson added that the contents of the samples were “convincing evidence that the animals there were probably infected with the virus.”
“It is the body of evidence that matters. When you combine this with the fact that the first cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan were market-related, it is strong evidence that the spread from an animal in the market occurred here.”
The published findings came in a setting that showed the lab leak theory was beginning to gain ground among US officials.
The Chinese government has denied claims that the virus originated in the laboratory. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Energy now say they believe this scenario is the “most likely” scenario.
Various US institutions had different conclusions on this issue; however, the FBI director said on March 1 that Beijing was “doing everything it could to hinder and confuse the studies” and said the bureau had “for a long time” been convinced of the lab leak theory.
Some scientists were disappointed that the FBI did not make its findings public.