WHO: second outbreak in China has human origin

The emergencies chief of the World Health Organization said the analysis of the genetic sequences so far suggests that the recent outbreak of the coronavirus in China was due to human transmission instead of jumping from animals directly into humans.

At a press briefing on Friday, Dr. Michael Ryan said China shared coronavirus sequences from its latest outbreak with the global community and that it appears the virus was imported to Beijing from strains circulating in Europe.

Ryan noted that “strains and viruses have moved around the world” throughout the pandemic.

He added that many viruses in New York “were of European origin” but that doesn't mean Europe necessarily was the original source.

Ryan called for a detailed investigation into the recent Beijing outbreak to determine how the imported cases sparked such a large cluster.

After the new coronavirus was first detected in people in Wuhan in late December, officials guessed that it likely jumped into people from a wildlife market, although the species responsible has never been identified.