The Zoonotic Origin of SARS COV2

The most recent evidence

I recently posted an article here and shared it on LI, FB and Bluesky that provided a very fair and unbiased look at the the evidence on both sides of the controversy about the origin of the COVID virus.

Well, it seems some people got the panties in a bunch when I pointed out that the evidence for a zoonotic orign is simply stronger. It is biochemical evidence whereas the lab leak evidence is circumstantial. My view is that biochemical evidence is simply stronger. When I expressed my view as someone with formal graduate school training in biochemistry of nucleic acids, I was called out for appeal to authority as a bully.

So, keeping myself in the bullying vein, I thought I would post another article that goes into more biochemical detail. I generally try to keep things simple for the non nucleic acid biochemists out there. So you may actually understand the first one.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240920/New-research-strengthens-the-case-for-a-zoonotic-origin-of-COVID-19.aspx#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20analysis,related%20to%20mongooses%20and%20hyenas).

The next articles, not so much.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00901-2

“Zoonotic spillovers of viruses have occurred through the animal trade worldwide. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was traced epidemiologically to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Here, we analyze environmental qPCR and sequencing data collected in the Huanan market in early 2020. We demonstrate that market-linked severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic diversity is consistent with market emergence and find increased SARS-CoV-2 positivity near and within a wildlife stall. We identify wildlife DNA in all SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from this stall, including species such as civets, bamboo rats, and raccoon dogs, previously identified as possible intermediate hosts. We also detect animal viruses that infect raccoon dogs, civets, and bamboo rats. Combining metagenomic and phylogenetic approaches, we recover genotypes of market animals and compare them with those from farms and other markets. This analysis provides the genetic basis for a shortlist of potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 to prioritize for serological and viral sampling.”

Need some more biochemistry?

https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp230508

https://www.science.org/content/article/evidence-suggests-pandemic-came-nature-not-lab-panel-says

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.00365-23

I think you get the point. The best evidence, the strongest evidence, the most sophisticated evidence supports zoonotic origin by far and it isn’t even close.

Where did lab leak come from? Steve Bannon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html

I am sorry if pointing out that what you believe is total BS cooked up by Steve Bannon and promulgated in Trump’s Corona Big Book of political talking points is bullying. Higher levels of expertise and higher quality evidence isn’t bullying.