'Beyond reasonable doubt': Scientists say they have FINALLY discovered origins of Covid-19

Their findings, published in the journal Cell, identified one particular stall as a hotspot for coronavirus.

The study compiled a list of animals likely to have passed the virus to humans, including raccoon dogs, masked palm civets, hoary bamboo rats and Malayan porcupines.

Co-corresponding author Professor Michael Worobey from the University of Arizona told the BBC: "It's far beyond reasonable doubt that this is how it happened."

He dismissed alternative theories as involving "really quite fanciful absurd scenarios".

Co-corresponding author Professor Kristian Andersen from Scripps Research in the US added: "We find a very consistent story in terms of this pointing to the market as being the very likely origin of this particular pandemic."

The research examined 800 samples of genetic material collected on 1 January 2020, the day after Wuhan authorities first raised the alarm about an unknown respiratory virus.

The researchers employed a technique that can identify specific organisms from mixed genetic material collected in the environment.

This allowed them to analyse the samples more thoroughly than in previous studies.
Chinese scientists had published the genetic sequences last year but did not identify the animals potentially infected with the coronavirus.

The new analysis provides a more detailed picture of the virus's origins.
However, Professor Mark Woolhouse from the University of Edinburgh noted that while significant, the study leaves some critical issues unanswered.

"There is no question Covid was circulating at that market, which was full of animals," he said. "The question that still remains is how it got there in the first place."

• UK borrowing highest since Covid-19 pandemic in blow to economy
• The three signs of high cholesterol you can spot simply by looking in the mirror
• The four foods that can help preserve memory

This latest research comes three years after a World Health Organization (WHO) team concluded it was "extremely unlikely" that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan.

The WHO experts also found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019. Their findings, released in 2021, had already cast doubt on the lab leak theory.

The origins of Covid-19 have been a subject of intense debate and speculation since the pandemic began. For the past four years, experts and politicians have engaged in public disagreements over the virus's source.

This has left the public confused and searching for answers, even as they try to move past the restrictions imposed during the early stages of the pandemic.

The lab leak theory, initially pushed by the Trump administration, gained traction in some circles. It suggested that the virus may have escaped from a virology institute in Wuhan. It then went from a fringe theory to a compelling scientific one as researchers turned their attention to the origins of Covid.

However, the WHO team's findings in 2021 and this latest study have significantly undermined this theory.
Despite the scientific evidence, the debate over Covid's origins remains a politically charged issue in the United States, particularly as the country approaches a presidential election year.

The response to the pandemic continues to be a divisive topic among Republicans and Democrats, with differing views on measures such as lockdowns, masking, social distancing, and vaccination.

This latest study aims to put to rest the conspiratorial claims about Covid being created in a Chinese lab, providing strong scientific evidence for a natural origin in the Wuhan animal market.

The trail for definitive scientific evidence regarding Covid-19's origins went cold long before this latest research. Chinese officials' decisions during the early stages of the Wuhan outbreak in winter 2019 meant that little information was communicated, and possibly not even collected when the virus first emerged in patients.

Since the pandemic began, the Chinese government has been reluctant to share data and cooperate with international investigations, including those led by the WHO.

This lack of transparency has fuelled speculation and made it challenging for researchers to gather conclusive evidence.

The new study, however, provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the genetic material collected from the Wuhan market.

It offers strong support for the natural origin theory, which has been favoured by most scientists since the pandemic's onset.

Despite this, the debate is likely to continue, particularly in political circles where the origins of Covid-19 remain a contentious issue.

As the world moves forward from the acute phase of the pandemic, understanding its origins remains crucial for preventing future outbreaks and improving global health security.