Scientists say genetic data links SARS-CoV-2 to raccoon dogs in the Chinese market

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A raccoon dog at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City on August 6, 2015.
Zoom in / A raccoon dog at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City on August 6, 2015.

Newly obtained genetic data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) link the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic coronavirus to animals – specifically raccoon dogs – at the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, where the first COVID-19 cases were concentrated. 19, a group of independent scientists told the World Health Organization this week.

The genetic data came from environmental swabs collected on the market by the CDC in China in January of 2020. The existence of these swabs was previously known, as was the fact that they tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. In late January this year, scientists at the CDC in China uploaded — and later deleted — additional genetic data from these swabs to a public genetic database called GISAID, the WHO said. These additional, previously undisclosed, data indicate that swabs positive for SARS-CoV-2 also contain genetic material from humans and animals, particularly large amounts of genetic material that closely matches those of raccoon dogs.

Raccoon dogs – fox-like animals whose faces closely resemble those of raccoons – are known to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and have been known to be sold in the market.

This close mixing of genetic material from the virus and the susceptible animal at the epicenter of the outbreak provides additional – albeit inconclusive – evidence supporting the natural spread hypothesis rather than the competing main hypothesis of in vitro biosafety breaches, namely the “lab leak”. Previous genetic studies identified Two genetic strains of SARS-CoV-2 in people early in the epidemic, suggesting there were two separate species crossed into humans.

In the spread scenario, the virus could be transmitted to humans from its reservoir in bats via raccoon dogs, which are an intermediate host. This is the number of animal viruses that are transmitted to humans, especially coronaviruses associated with SARS-CoV-2. After the SARS outbreak in 2003 caused by the SARS virus-1the data indicates that Hooded palm civet and other possible wild animals – including a raccoon dog –He acted as an intermediary host at a wild animal market much like Huanan Market. Another coronavirus, MERS-CoV, is also known to cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). It is spread to people by dromedary camels.

Data spy

The newly discovered genetic data from the Huanan market is not yet available to the public, and much of what is known is from media reports of the data. Atlantic was The first to report Thursday’s data.

But the World Health Organization confirmed at a news conference on Friday that it first learned of the data on Sunday, and on Tuesday, SAGO, the agency’s scientific advisory group for the origins of the new pathogens, brought together the virus. At that meeting, the international scientists who were able to download the data before it was removed from GISAID presented their initial analysis to the advisory group.

Among the scientists working on the analysis is Michael Worby, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona. Christian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in California; Edward Holmes, a biologist at the University of Sydney; and Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Florence Debarre, a theorist who specializes in evolutionary biology and works for CNRS, France’s national research agency, is credited with data espionage that initially detected the data on GISAID in early March before removing it.

According to media reports, the data was pulled from GISAID after international scientists analyzing the data reached out to the China CDC for cooperation.

“The big problem right now is that this data is out there and it’s not readily available to the international community. And that’s first and foremost critical, not to mention that it should have been made available years ago,” said Maria van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead on COVID-19. 19, on Friday.

During investigations into the origins of SARS-CoV-2, China has pushed the dubious hypothesis that the virus originated entirely outside its borders, suggesting at one point that it was brought to the Huanan market via imported frozen foods. It has strongly disputed suggestions of a possible lab leak and has previously denied any wild animals in Huanan that could serve as intermediate hosts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed Van Kerkhove’s frustration, stressing that the agency had once again pushed China for transparency.

“This data could have been – and should have been – shared three years ago,” Tedros said on Friday. “We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data, conducting necessary investigations, and sharing results. Understanding how the epidemic began remains a moral and scientific imperative.”

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