Origin of SARS-CoV-2

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Scientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of SARS-CoV-2. Each "ball" is an atom.
Scientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of SARS-CoV-2. Each "ball" is an atom.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been efforts by scientists, governments, and others to determine the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Similar to other outbreaks,[1][2][3] the virus was derived from a bat-borne virus and most likely was transmitted to humans via another animal in nature, or during wildlife trade such as that in food markets.[11] While other explanations, such as speculations that SARS-CoV-2 was accidentally released from a laboratory have been proposed,[12][13][14] such explanations are not supported by evidence.[15][16] Conspiracy theories about the virus's origin have also proliferated.[17]

SARS-CoV-2 has close genetic similarity to multiple previously identified bat coronaviruses, suggesting it crossed over into humans from bats.[7][18][19][20][21] Research is ongoing as to whether SARS-CoV-2 came directly from bats or indirectly through an intermediate host, such as pangolins,[22] civets,[23] or raccoon dogs.[24][25] Genomic sequence evidence indicates the spillover event introducing SARS-CoV-2 to humans likely occurred in late 2019.[26][27] As with the 2002–2004 SARS-CoV-1 outbreak, efforts to trace the specific geographic and taxonomic origins of SARS-CoV-2 could take years, and results may be inconclusive.[28]

In July 2022, two papers published in Science described novel epidemiological and genetic evidence that suggested the pandemic likely began at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market and did not come from a laboratory.[29][30][31]

  1. ^ Aguirre AA, Catherina R, Frye H, Shelley L (September 2020). "Illicit Wildlife Trade, Wet Markets, and COVID-19: Preventing Future Pandemics". World Medical & Health Policy. 12 (3): 256–265. doi:10.1002/wmh3.348. ISSN 1948-4682. PMC 7362142. PMID 32837772.
  2. ^ Khan SA, Imtiaz MA, Islam MM, Tanzin AZ, Islam A, Hassan MM (10 May 2022). "Major bat-borne zoonotic viral epidemics in Asia and Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis". Veterinary Medicine and Science. 8 (4): 1787–1801. doi:10.1002/vms3.835. ISSN 2053-1095. PMC 9297750. PMID 35537080.
  3. ^ Janicki J, Scarr S, Tai C (2 March 2021). "Bats and the origin of outbreaks". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Virus origin / Origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus". WHO. Retrieved 23 June 2021. WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2
  5. ^ "The COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic has a natural origin, scientists say – Scripps Research's analysis of public genome sequence data from SARS‑CoV‑2 and related viruses found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered". EurekAlert!. Scripps Research Institute. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  6. ^ Latinne A, Hu B, Olival KJ, Zhu G, Zhang L, Li H, Chmura AA, Field HE, Zambrana-Torrelio C, Epstein JH, Li B, Zhang W, Wang LF, Shi ZL, Daszak P (25 August 2020). "Origin and cross-species transmission of bat coronaviruses in China". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 4235. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.4235L. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17687-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7447761. PMID 32843626.
  7. ^ a b Andersen KG, Rambaut A, Lipkin WI, Holmes EC, Garry RF (17 March 2020). "Correspondence: The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2". Nature Medicine. 26 (4): 450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9. PMC 7095063. PMID 32284615.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_Scientists_Calls was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Hu B, Guo H, Zhou P, Shi ZL (6 October 2020). "Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19". Nature Reviews. Microbiology. 19 (3): 141–154. doi:10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7. ISSN 1740-1526. PMC 7537588. PMID 33024307.
  10. ^ Kramer J (30 March 2021). "Here's what the WHO report found on the origins of COVID-19". Science. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021. Most scientists are not surprised by the report's conclusion that SARS-CoV-2 most likely jumped from an infected bat or pangolin to another animal and then to a human.
  11. ^ This assessment has been made by numerous virologists, geneticists, evolutionary biologists, professional societies, and published in multiple peer-reviewed journal articles.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
  12. ^ Horowitz J, Stanway D (9 February 2021). "COVID may have taken 'convoluted path' to Wuhan, WHO team leader says". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  13. ^ Pauls K, Yates J (27 January 2020). "Online claims that Chinese scientists stole coronavirus from Winnipeg lab have 'no factual basis'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  14. ^ "China's rulers see the coronavirus as a chance to tighten their grip". The Economist. 8 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. ^ Holmes EC, Goldstein SA, Rasmussen AL, Robertson DL, Crits-Christoph A, Wertheim JO, Anthony SJ, Barclay WS, Boni MF, Doherty PC, Farrar J (August 2021). "The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review". Cell. 184 (19): 4848–4856. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.017. PMC 8373617. PMID 34480864.
  16. ^ https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01240-24
  17. ^ Hartman TK, Marshall M, Stocks TV, McKay R, Bennett K, Butter S, Gibson Miller J, Hyland P, Levita L, Martinez AP, Mason L, McBride O, Murphy J, Shevlin M, Vallières F (2021). "Different Conspiracy Theories Have Different Psychological and Social Determinants: Comparison of Three Theories About the Origins of the COVID-19 Virus in a Representative Sample of the UK Population". Frontiers in Political Science. 3. doi:10.3389/fpos.2021.642510. ISSN 2673-3145.
  18. ^ Latinne A, Hu B, Olival KJ, Zhu G, Zhang L, Li H, Chmura AA, Field HE, Zambrana-Torrelio C, Epstein JH, Li B, Zhang W, Wang LF, Shi ZL, Daszak P (25 August 2020). "Origin and cross-species transmission of bat coronaviruses in China". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 4235. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.4235L. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17687-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7447761. PMID 32843626.
  19. ^ Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, Si HR, Zhu Y, Li B, Huang CL, Chen HD, Chen J, Luo Y, Guo H, Jiang RD, Liu MQ, Chen Y, Shen XR, Wang X, Zheng XS, Zhao K, Chen QJ, Deng F, Liu LL, Yan B, Zhan FX, Wang YY, Xiao GF, Shi ZL (February 2020). "A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin". Nature. 579 (7798): 270–273. Bibcode:2020Natur.579..270Z. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. PMC 7095418. PMID 32015507.
  20. ^ Perlman S (February 2020). "Another Decade, Another Coronavirus". The New England Journal of Medicine. 382 (8): 760–762. doi:10.1056/NEJMe2001126. PMC 7121143. PMID 31978944.
  21. ^ Benvenuto D, Giovanetti M, Ciccozzi A, Spoto S, Angeletti S, Ciccozzi M (April 2020). "The 2019-new coronavirus epidemic: Evidence for virus evolution". Journal of Medical Virology. 92 (4): 455–459. doi:10.1002/jmv.25688. PMC 7166400. PMID 31994738.
  22. ^ Shield C (7 February 2020). "Coronavirus: From bats to pangolins, how do viruses reach us?". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  23. ^ Liu SL, Saif LJ, Weiss SR, Su L (26 February 2010). "No credible evidence supporting claims of the laboratory engineering of SARS-CoV-2". Emerging Microbes & Infections. 9 (1): 505–507. doi:10.1080/22221751.2020.1733440. PMC 7054935. PMID 32102621.
  24. ^ Lytras S, Xia W, Hughes J, Jiang X, Robertson DL (17 August 2021). "The animal origin of SARS-CoV-2". Science. 373 (6558): 968–970. Bibcode:2021Sci...373..968L. doi:10.1126/science.abh0117. PMID 34404734. S2CID 237198809.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference WHO-SR22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference NexstrainApril1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cohen J (January 2020). "Wuhan seafood market may not be source of novel virus spreading globally". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abb0611. S2CID 214574620.
  28. ^ Cadell C (11 December 2020). "One year on, Wuhan market at epicentre of virus outbreak remains barricaded and empty". Reuters. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  29. ^ Maxmen A (27 February 2022). "Wuhan market was epicentre of pandemic's start, studies suggest". Nature. 603 (7899): 15–16. Bibcode:2022Natur.603...15M. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-00584-8. PMID 35228730. S2CID 247168739.
  30. ^ Pekar JE, Magee A, Parker E, Moshiri N, Izhikevich K, Havens JL, Gangavarapu K, Malpica Serrano LM, Crits-Christoph A, Matteson NL, Zeller M, Levy JI, Wang JC, Hughes S, Lee J, Park H, Park MS, Ching Zi Yan K, Lin RT, Mat Isa MN, Noor YM, Vasylyeva TI, Garry RF, Holmes EC, Rambaut A, Suchard MA, Andersen KG, Worobey M, Wertheim JO (August 2022). "The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2". Science. 377 (6609): 960–966. Bibcode:2022Sci...377..960P. doi:10.1126/science.abp8337. PMC 9348752. PMID 35881005.
  31. ^ Worobey M, Levy JI, Malpica Serrano L, Crits-Christoph A, Pekar JE, Goldstein SA, Rasmussen AL, Kraemer MU, Newman C, Koopmans MP, Suchard MA, Wertheim JO, Lemey P, Robertson DL, Garry RF, Holmes EC, Rambaut A, Andersen KG (August 2022). "The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic". Science. 377 (6609): 951–959. Bibcode:2022Sci...377..951W. doi:10.1126/science.abp8715. PMC 9348750. PMID 35881010.