The Origin of COVID-19 Revealed (3 pics)

American researchers have found out where COVID-19 came from. Scientists from the University of California, San Diego, studied more than a hundred coronaviruses found in horseshoe bats and compared them with SARS-CoV-2 and its predecessor SARS-CoV-1, which caused an epidemic in 2002.





This made it possible to create a complete picture of the evolution of viruses. The data suggests that the closest "relatives" of SARS-CoV-2 emerged five to seven years before the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. The virus began to evolve in bats back in 2012 in a region spanning western China and northern Laos.

At the same time, the closest “relatives” of SARS-CoV-1 emerged ten years before the 2002 Guangdong epidemic. In both cases, these viruses were detected at a distance of 1,000 to 2,000 kilometers from the site of mass infection.

Horseshoe bats live in a limited area, so scientists consider it unlikely that the animals themselves spread the disease.



The map shows the area where Covid could have originated

The virus was likely spread through intermediate hosts — raccoon dogs or civets. They were caught and transported to markets in large cities.

This conclusion echoes the already known data on the first outbreak of atypical pneumonia in 2002. Then, scientists found that palm civets sold in Chinese markets became a link between bats and people.

Dr. Joel Wertheim, an infectious disease expert and co-author of the study, said: “Early in the pandemic, many people thought that the distance between Wuhan and the bats was too great for the virus to have originated naturally. Our work proves otherwise.”

A team from the University of California, San Diego, found that four markets in Wuhan were selling animals that could have carried the virus in late 2019. This observation strongly suggests that one of these markets may have been the epicenter of the first outbreak.

While scientists favor a natural origin for Covid, they also consider the possibility that the virus may have escaped from a lab.

Many experts, including the FBI and CIA, believe that SARS-CoV-2 originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where coronaviruses were being studied.



Dr Simon Clarke, an infectious disease expert from the UK, commented on the work of his American colleagues: "This study adds weight to the argument that Covid-19 arose as a result of the wildlife trade, but I don't see any evidence. We already know that the Wuhan lab was collecting viruses from the wild."

Scientists from the University of California have developed a method that helps to bypass regions of the viral genome with a high frequency of recombination. This natural process in which viruses exchange genetic material often complicates attempts to trace their evolutionary history. By excluding these "recombinant" regions, they were able to build an accurate genetic chronology.

Last week, China blamed America for the pandemic. In a white paper, China's State Council Information Office suggested that the virus, which has killed 1.2 million Americans and at least 7 million people worldwide, may have originated in the United States.

The statement appears to be a response to Trump, who has continued to blame the Wuhan Institute of Virology.