Link to the study https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00353-8
this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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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.
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.
Ah so it was a leak from the biggest bioweapon lab of all, the natural world where things evolve to kill other things.
I'm not going to comment on the wildlife food trade in China because I don't know that much about it, but just wanted to point out that nearly all of history's worst diseases have something to do with humans wanting to eat meat. And it's happening again with that new bird flu we're completely unprepared for. Might be something to look into if we're concerned about humanity going extinct from a global pandemic ¯\(ツ)/¯
Nearly all of history's worst diseases have come from animals, and animals have those diseases whether we eat them or not. Factory farming certainly enhances the danger, but cows don't stop existing just because we don't eat beef. There is, however, also an upside to meat consumption: being around/eating animals all the time also builds up your immune system's defenses against diseases that originate in those animals. See: indigenous people in the Americas dying in droves to diseases they had no immunity to because they didn't farm/ranch animals. I mean and also the smallpox blankets, but you get my point.
cows don't stop existing just because we don't eat beef.
Humans need to go close to the infected animal to get infected.
being around/eating animals all the time also builds up your immune system's defenses against diseases that originate in those animals
Oh, so being exposed to new viruses reduces the risk of dying to a virus you got … because you were exposed to it?
Humans need to go close to the infected animal to get infected.
To some extent yes, but 'get close to' is pretty broad: breathe contaminated air in the general vicinity of animals, drink water they've pissed or shit in, etc.
Oh, so being exposed to new viruses reduces the risk of dying to a virus you got … because you were exposed to it?
That is in fact how a vaccine/our immune system works, yes.
breathe contaminated air in the general vicinity of animals, drink water they've pissed or shit in, etc.
Don't go near animals. Boil water before drinking. Simple as.
That is in fact how a vaccine/our immune system works, yes.
Vaccines work using either diluted toxins, or increasingly, proteins / RNA that just look somewhat like the real thing. The immune system works by enough of the population dying off until only those with the necessary mutations are left.