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Study debunks Covid-19 ‘lab leak’ theory, finds virus didn’t originate in Wuhan (www.scmp.com)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (10 children)

Link to the study https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00353-8

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (9 children)

Article is paywalled, so thanks for posting the actual study. This section seems in direct conflict with the article's title:

Given the ... clear evidence that the epicenter of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was at one of only four markets in Wuhan that sold live wildlife from plausible intermediate host mammal species, either the closest-inferred ancestor or the direct ancestor of SARS-CoV-2 likely moved from an area in or around Yunnan province, to Hubei province, via the wild and farmed animal trade.

In sum, the study doesn't challenge that Covid-19 originated in Wuhan; but instead, explores the genetic backgrounds of the bats with the closest links to Covid-19.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

If the virus originated in a wide area around Yunnan/Hubei (the latter of which is where Wuhan is) then it seems pretty unlikely that it came from a single source within Wuhan, right? I agree that the headline might be a bit ambiguous, but it's like saying 'It came from all over Texas' vs 'It came specifically from El Paso.' But I haven't read the study myself.

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