Zoonotic origins of COVID-19

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SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, was first introduced to humans through zoonosis (transmission of a pathogen to a human from an animal), and a zoonotic spillover event is the origin of COVID-19 that is considered most plausible by the scientific community.^[a] Human coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 are zoonotic diseases that are often acquired through spillover infection from animals.^[2]

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