Analysis of the unusual SARS-CoV-2 outbreak showed that natural origin is questionable and suggested it was a consequence of an accidental laboratory release.
What about genome sequence signatures such as the furin cut site? If there were an intermediate host, seems that it would be infected and could be found. It is interesting that it has been detected in the deer population now among many other animals. So it now has a new animal reservoir. Exploring the animal reservoir around Wuhan it might be too late to find the original strain origins now as presumably the animals can be infected with the latest strain. If it was not a lab leak, then the government should have made it easy to investigate and confirm there was no leak-instead it has been blocked and China says a lab leak theory is all politics...
Thanks for this interesting article about pandemic assessment.
SARS-CoV-2 Origins: Potential Epidemiological Clues for Discerning Between a Disease Outbreak of Natural Origin Versus an Act of Bioterrorism
What about genome sequence signatures such as the furin cut site? If there were an intermediate host, seems that it would be infected and could be found. It is interesting that it has been detected in the deer population now among many other animals. So it now has a new animal reservoir. Exploring the animal reservoir around Wuhan it might be too late to find the original strain origins now as presumably the animals can be infected with the latest strain. If it was not a lab leak, then the government should have made it easy to investigate and confirm there was no leak-instead it has been blocked and China says a lab leak theory is all politics...
Thanks for this interesting article about pandemic assessment.