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Slashdot: New Research Argues It's 'Extraordinarily Clear' The Pandemic Started at the Wuhan Market

New Research Argues It's 'Extraordinarily Clear' The Pandemic Started at the Wuhan Market
Published on February 27, 2022 at 02:07AM
The New York times reports that two extensive new studies released today "point to a market in Wuhan, China as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic." The researchers analyzed data from a range of sources to look for clues to how the pandemic arose. They concluded that the coronavirus was present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019. The research suggests that the virus very likely twice spilled over into people working or shopping at the market. The researchers said they found no support for an alternate hypothesis that the coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan. "When you look at all of the evidence together, it's an extraordinarily clear picture that the pandemic started at the Huanan market," said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and a co-author of both studies.... Many of the first cases of Covid-19 clustered around the Huanan market. Worobey posted an animated GIF on Twitter summarizing what he sees as some of the most compelling evidence that the virus originated from the market. it includes the fact that "the vast majority" of cases at the market came specifically from where wildlife was being sold — and that an animal cage and a freezer at the market even tested positive for the presence of Covid-19.

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