While many believe SARS-CoV-2 spread to humans from Wuhan’s market, others have argued the virus was accidentally leaked from a lab.
Over the past week, there has been intense debate surrounding the emergence of new data relevant to this question.
In particular, reports emerged that the pandemic’s origins may be linked to raccoon dogs which were being sold illegally at the market.
The excitement stemmed from a re-analysis of raw data generated as part of official investigations into the role of the seafood market in the outbreak.
So what can we make of their findings? Will this development shift the course of the ongoing debate? Let’s take a look.
While this latest data is one additional piece of the puzzle that supports an origin of the pandemic linked to Wuhan’s animal trade, it is unlikely to provide irrefutable evidence.
It’s important to note it’s also a pre-print. Ideally, we would like animal samples from early December 2019, and to compare animal virus genomes with human ones.
It will also be crucial to follow events backwards through the animal trade and farming systems to work out where the animals got the virus from in the first instance.
The virus could have easily been given to a raccoon dog by an infected human, or that the association between raccoon dog DNA and SARS-CoV-2 may be coincidental.
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