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Did the covid-19 pandemic start with an accident in a laboratory or with the virus spreading naturally from animals to humans? Two new studies lend support to the latter theory.
It was the animal market in China’s Wuhan that most likely started the covid-19 pandemic, according to two new studies published in the journal Science.
The first of the new studies, which analyzes the geographic pattern of covid cases in the first month of the virus outbreak, December 2019, shows that the cases are heavily concentrated in the Huanan market in Wuhan.
The second study, which examines the early evolution of the virus, concludes that it is unlikely that the virus was widespread in humans before November 2019.
According to the researchers, these studies give the picture that the virus was present in mammals sold at the Huanan market in late 2019 and that it was transferred to people who worked or shopped there.
Finding an answer to the question of whether the disease spread naturally from animals to humans or was the result of a laboratory accident is seen as very important to avoid the next pandemic and save millions of lives.
In June, the World Health Organization WHO urged researchers to continue trying to determine the origin of the covid-19 pandemic.