Coronavirus did not actually originate at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan as widely reported, a study by a team of Chinese scientists has claimed.
Instead, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 was imported from outside the market, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research have reported.
“The crowded market then boosted SARS-CoV-2 circulation and spread it to the whole city in early December 2019.”
The team, led by Dr Yu Wenbin, sequenced the genomic data of 93 SARS-CoV-2 samples from 12 countries to ascertain the source of the infection and understand how it spreads.
Studies by Chinese health authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed that the first known patient showed symptoms on December 8 and most of the subsequent cases had links to the Huanan seafood market. The market was then closed on January 1.
The authors wrote: “The study concerning whether Huanan market is the only birthplace of SARS-CoV-2 is of great significance for finding its source and determining the intermediate host, so as to control the epidemic and prevent it from spreading again.”
