China says coronavirus did NOT originate in Wuhan, but admits it may have been the site of super-spreader event
The wet market in Wuhan was not the origin of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as was previously believed to be, according to recent studies. Researchers now believe that the market may have been the site of a super-spreader event. Genetic evidence of the novel coronavirus has confirmed that the virus first originated in bats before jumping to humans. However, the exact location of the transmission is not yet known, according to reports.
Chinese authorities, originally, in January had stated that the first cases of Covid-19 emerged at a local seafood market in Wuhan. However, a new investigation into the animals sold at the market has ruled the probability out. The Chinese Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly took samples of the animals in the market and concluded that none of them had coronavirus, according to the Daily Mail.
Scrutiny over the pandemic and its origins have led many across the world to float unsubstantiated theories, suggesting that the virus may have accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Scientists from the US and China, however, have stated that there is no evidence that suggests that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The research institute is known for its study of coronaviruses.
Wuhan Institute of Virology's director, Wang Yanyi, earlier this week, slammed the claims that the deadly novel coronavirus came from his lab, calling it "pure fabrication". Yanyi made the statement while addressing Chinese media on Sunday, May 24, and added that his team did not even know about the existence of the virus. We had "no knowledge before that nor had we ever encountered, researched, or kept the virus," he said.
The investigation by the Chinese CDC suggests that since the animals in the wet market tested negative for the novel coronavirus, it suggests that they could not have infected shoppers there. The conclusion has led to a new theory that someone visiting the market had already contracted Covid-19 and became a super spreader, infecting many others around them.
The Chinese CDC said: "It turns out the wet market was a victim of the virus." Reports state that a majority of the original 41 cases of the novel coronavirus reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December were associated with the said wet market. This led to the marker being shut down on January 1, 2020. However, a majority of the market's stores had reopened by April 14.
The CDC study suggests that the virus was likely circulating in Wuhan before the first 41 cases were reported. The study stated that the original 13 cases showed no connection to the wet market. According to research conducted on the origins of the virus in January, the first person confirmed to have had the virus was likely exposed as early as December 1 and began showing symptoms on December 8.
A zoologist at Georgetown University, Colin Carlson, while talking to Live Science, said that the wet market was likely the site where one sick person infected a large number of people. Carlson said that figuring out how the virus jumped from animals to humans and its exact origin could probably take years.
"This is an animal-origin virus that made the leap, maybe from bats to humans, maybe through... another animal, maybe through livestock. And we don't have the data yet to know where or how," the zoologist said.