After the pangolin, the raccoon dog? As scientists continue to search for the origins of the covid-19 pandemic that began in 2020, a new study by international researchers points to the potential role of the raccoon dog, an animal close to the raccoon, in findings published Tuesday.
Previous studies had considered that the pangolin or the bat are at the origin of the epidemic.
The results of this study come from the analysis of samples taken from the Huanan market, located in Wuhan, a city in central east China where the virus was first detected.
This data was collected within two months of the market close on January 1, 2020 due to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and comes from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCCPM).
Raccoon Dog DNA Traces
According to genetic analyzes carried out by a team of international researchers, later submitted to the WHO, the samples contain traces of DNA from raccoon dogs in large numbers, as well as from other mammals, such as civets.
These results contradict the first conclusions published by Chinese researchers in 2022. They stated that there was no animal DNA present in the samples taken.
However, the scientists’ work does not establish with certainty that raccoon dogs, or that other animals, are the source of Covid-19. However, the hypothesis is strongly reinforced.
Data published and then deleted by China
WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday called on China to be more transparent about sharing data collected on Covid.
He said the organization learned last Sunday that information from the large GISAID (Global Avian Influenza Data Sharing Initiative) database had been published online in late January by China, before being recently removed for unknown reasons.
The WHO was informed of the disappearance of this data by scientists, not by China. The world organization also criticizes China for having delayed its publication.
“(This data) could have been shared, and it should have been shared three years ago,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The origin of the Covid is not yet formally established
“Although we are increasingly confident that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is near, the question of how it started remains unanswered,” recalled the head of the WHO.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, several hypotheses have emerged about the origins of Covid-19. Several studies conclude that the pandemic began in the Wuhan market, some evoking the possible role of the bat or another animal.
The WHO also announced on Friday that Covid will soon be comparable to the threat of seasonal flu, while reminding that the pandemic is not yet officially over.
Source: BFM TV
