China Probe: SARS-CoV-2 Jump from Go-Between Host Most Likely Scenario
Some Cases Predated Seafood Market Cluster
Liang Wannian, PhD, China’s team lead, said the Wuhan seafood market that first emerged as the potential source of the outbreak may not have been the first place where the virus transmitted. He said the earliest illness onset for a confirmed COVID-19 patient was Dec 8, 2019, and that the earliest illness onset linked to the market was Dec 12.
Ben Embarek said a detailed case database review found no indications that there were large COVID-19 outbreaks before December 2019 in Wuhan or anywhere else in China, according to Reuters.
At the briefing, Chinese officials repeated their earlier assertions that the virus could have come from outside of China, and Liang said investigations going forward should not be restricted to any locations, according to the New York Times. Though a number of scientists dispute the possibility, the WHO team said they would weigh reports of early COVID-19 cases that occurred outside of China.
More Studies Needed in Market Animals
Investigators also urged more studies of the animals sold at the seafood market in Wuhan linked to the first reported patient cluster. Peter Daszak, PhD, a team member from the United States who is with EcoHealth Alliance, said on Twitter Monday that there were no SARS-CoV-2 positives from animals at the seafood market, but some are thought to be susceptible to coronaviruses, including ferret badgers.
Some also trace back to farms or regions where bats harbor coronaviruses. “This, to me, is a critical finding.”
He also said the team recommends sampling intermediate hosts and bats in and outside of China, keeping in mind a possible role of frozen wild animals that could have been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Liang said no labs in Wuhan worked with SARS-CoV-2, though the WIV researches coronaviruses from bats in southwestern China, including two known relatives of SARS-CoV-2, according to the Washington Post.
The WHO said Monday that the team will finalize a summary of the report in the coming days and that it will publish a link to the full findings, once the report is published.
High Death Count in Russia
Monday, new totals from Russia’s statistics agency suggest that the country’s COVID-19 deaths are much higher than previously reported, according to CNN. Earlier, the country had reported 57,555 COVID-19 deaths for 2020, but the latest number at 162,429 is sharply higher.
The latest number combines deaths directly related to the virus with those in which infection was a contributing factor.
The higher number would make Russia the third-highest country in cumulative deaths.
In other global headlines:
· Tokyo’s Olympic committee has released its COVID-19 playbook for the postponed Summer Games, which includes a plan for testing athletes and officials every 4 days, according to CNN.
· Myanmar’s COVID-19 testing has collapsed in the wake of the country’s coup, according to Reuters.
· The global total Monday reached 106,732,062 cases, and 2,333,776 people have died from their infections, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.
Lisa Schnirring is news editor at CIDRAP. This article is published courtesy of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy (CIDRAP).
