A new analysis of samples collected from a Wuhan seafood market has suggested for the first time a concrete link between some of the wild animals being illegally sold there and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlantic reported on Thursday.

 

The evidence points to raccoon dogs as the likely culprit, according to the analysis, which found that the animals may have been carrying and shedding the virus near the end of 2019.

 

The research was conducted by an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary biologists, according to The Atlantic—and though it’s not 100 percent definitive proof, it’s “a really strong indication that animals at the market were infected,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist involved in the investigation. 

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/raccoon-dogs-likely-started-covid-19-pandemic-new-genetic-analysis-shows

 

What's interesting is that when word leaked out that a researcher had unearthed and downloaded this data from a Chinese database, the data disappeared from the web shortly thereafter. The Chinese govt has consistently denied that Covid-19 began with them, whether from a lab or from a wet market. At one point they were blaming frozen salmon from the United States as the source.

On 3/17/2023 at 12:42 AM, placeholder said:

What's interesting is that when word leaked out that a researcher had unearthed and downloaded this data from a Chinese database, the data disappeared from the web shortly thereafter. The Chinese govt has consistently denied that Covid-19 began with them, whether from a lab or from a wet market. At one point they were blaming frozen salmon from the United States as the source.

Thanks.  I had sort of forgotten that the CCP has denied it even started in China.