Wuhan market is likely the source of COVID-19, study finds

SINGAPORE – The first known case of COVID-19 was a market vendor in the Chinese city of Wuhan, not an accountant who appeared to have no connection to the market but whose case contributed to speculation the virus may have may have escaped from a laboratory, according to an American study.

The origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 remains a mystery and a major source of tension between China and the United States.

A joint study by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) this year all but ruled out the theory that COVID-19 originated in a lab, saying the most likely hypothesis was that it naturally infected humans, possibly through the wildlife trade.

A WHO-led team of experts spent four weeks in and around the central city of Wuhan with Chinese scientists and said in a joint report in March that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was likely transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, but that more research was needed.

The accountant, who was widely believed to be the first person to have COVID-19, reported that his first symptoms appeared on December 16, several days later than initially expected, Michael Worobey, head of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, said in the study published in the journal Science Thursday.

The confusion was caused by a dental problem he had on December 8.

“The onset of her symptoms came after several cases among workers in the Huanan market, making a seafood vendor the first known case, with onset of illness on December 11,” according to the study.

He said most of the early symptomatic cases were linked to the market, especially the western section where raccoon dogs were caged, and he provided strong evidence of a market origin of the pandemic live animals. .

The WHO last month proposed a new panel of experts to investigate the source of the coronavirus.

Reporting by Miyoung Kim Editing by Robert Birsel