A recent article in the academic journal Science has attracted attention for its detailed modeling of the initial post-emergence of the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19. The authors of this study have touted it as ending the debate about the origins of the novel coronavirus,…
A recent article in the academic journal Science has attracted attention for its detailed modeling of the initial post-emergence of the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19. The authors of this study have touted it as ending the debate about the origins of the novel coronavirus, favoring a zoonosis, or a jump from an animal host to humans without any steps in between.
Second, where are the animals in China with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies or infection? After its emergence, SARS-CoV-2 has found hosts in farmed mink, pet hamsters, and in white-tailed deer of the eastern U.S., in which it is now enzootic. Where, then, is the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Chinese wildlife? If it came to the seafood market in an animal raised, trapped, or hunted for human consumption, there must be more examples in the wild.
Fourth, why is it considered epidemiologically unusual that the origin may have been a lab escape from a gain-of-function experiment? As Alison Young has amply documented, accidents and safety lapses happen so frequently at containment labs that they are considered normal.