Until now, the origin of the corona pandemic has not been determined. Data released secretly could change that.
The debate over the origin of the corona virus has been raging for three years now. One theory is that SARS-CoV-2 entered the human population directly from a wildlife source. Others suspect that the pathogen may have escaped from a laboratory.
Many scientists clung to the idea that the outbreak was due to a purely natural cause. But that hypothesis lacked crucial evidence: genetic evidence from the Wuhan market that could show that the virus had infected animals for sale there.
“Cannot exist!” Minister makes new vaccination announcement
secretly published data
This week, an international team of virologists, genomic scientists and evolutionary biologists published potentially crucial data that could help close this knowledge gap. The Atlantic reports that a new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs carried the virus in late 2019 and may also be transmitting it. The animals were illegally sold there.
At the end of last week, the data was published discreetly and secretly on a science portal. Almost by chance, scientists in Europe, North America and Australia discovered the sequences, downloaded them and began to analyze them.
Raw data deleted from database
According to experts, the new data is one of the strongest evidence that the pandemic began when the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen jumped from animals to humans and was not caused by an accident between scientists experimenting with viruses. However, the results do not conclusively prove that raccoon dogs spread the virus to humans or that they were the only mammals on the market to contract the virus.
Woman no longer recognizes face after Corona
The raw data was removed from the database after international scientists who sequenced the genome data approached Chinese scientists, who uploaded it and offered to collaborate, reports the New York Times. China has repeatedly refused to share origin and distribution data with the World Health Organization during the corona pandemic.
US Congress passes data release
The US Congress wants intelligence information about the origin of the corona virus to be made public. The Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted in favor of a corresponding bill last Friday. The Senate had already voted in favor of it. The law will not take effect until US President Joe Biden signs it into law.
4,555 new cases and 6 corona deaths on Thursday
There is reason to believe that the corona pandemic originated in a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the text says. Therefore, the US intelligence coordinator must release “as much information as possible” about the origin of the virus and make it available to the public.
Navigation count 20 minutes, time dav 03.18.2023, 07:05| Act: 03/18/2023, 10:06 am