COVID-19: Early cases from China mirror initial SARS virus spread 17 yrs ago, studies show

As experts across the globe search for COVID-19 origins, scientists have recently found that the earliest cases of novel coronavirus cases emerging from markets in China’s Wuhan in December 2019 mirrored initial spread of the SARS virus at least 17 years ago. They also said that an animal contagion is the most reasonable explanation for the genesis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a review of the scientific evidence over COVID-19 origin, Edward Holmes, Andrew Rambaut and 19 other researchers said on July 7 that the epidemiological history of SARS-CoV-2 is comparable to the previous outbreaks associated with the animal markets.

As per the Bloomberg report, the scientists released the paper on Wednesday ahead of peer review and is presently being readied for submission to a journal for publication. The paper put together by 21 scientists, according to the media publication, provides a detailed explanation for the genetic signatures for SARS-CoV-2, early epidemiology and research undertaken at the Wuhan Insitute of Virology (WIV).

After over a year of COVID-19 pandemic as experts continue to find the definite answers to questions around the origin of the virus, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 coalesces around just two competing ideas. While some claim it was leaked from the Wuhan lab, others have cited evidence to back the theory of virus jumping to humans from animals. As per the report, the authors of the paper include Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty and Wellcome Trust Director Jeremy Farrar.

‘First really systematic sift through data’

As per the report, Holmes, a laureate professor who studies evolutionary biology at the University of Sydney, said in an email to the media publication, “It’s the first really systematic sift through all the data.” He also said, “There has been a lot of news coverage of Covid’s origins in recent months, much of it speculation and some of it simply misinformation. We thought it was important to go back to the core scientific data and clearly and calmly work through what it told us.”

Earlier, the last foreign scientist to work at Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is also the centre of coronavirus lab leak theory,  spoke publicly for the first time regarding the conspiracy. In an interview with Bloomberg published on June 27, Australian virologist Danielle Anderson who is an expert in bat-borne viruses said that working at Wuhan lab was her lifelong goal, supported the investigation into the origins of COVID-19 without ruling out the possibility of a coronavirus leaking from the lab.

IMAGE: PTI/Pixabay