Where does the new coronavirus come from?

According to the latest global data of new crown epidemic released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 17:00 on the 12th Beijing time, the total number of new crown confirmed cases in the world has exceeded 1.78 million, and the global death toll has exceeded 100000. The global epidemic is called "the biggest crisis after World War II" by the United Nations. However, the source of the new coronavirus(COVID-19) that caused the epidemic has not yet been determined, and there are many kinds of "conspiracy theories" in the media. Recently, scientists from Britain, the United States and other countries published papers in professional academic journals, trying to trace the source of the virus.

On April 8, researchers from the University of Cambridge published a study in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAs), which identified a bat coronavirus with 96.2% homology with the new coronavirus as the "ancestor" of the new coronavirus in animals. Based on this, 160 new coronas from all over the world were extracted from the database of gisaid According to the evolutionary relationship, virus genes can be divided into three types: A, B and C.

Among them, the new coronavirus type A is the closest to the bat coronavirus, which is identified by researchers as the "primitive" type of new coronavirus transmitted in humans. It was found that although type A virus appeared in Wuhan, China, there were more variant type B virus in Wuhan samples, and type A virus was more common in American and Australian research samples. In Europe, the type C strain is derived from the type B strain which has spread in China and East Asia.

Dr. Peter Forster, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, UK, who is the first author of the paper, said that this study has not yet been able to give an exact answer to the source of the new coronavirus, and he and other scholars will continue to study this issue. However, the evidence found in the study shows that the initial infection time of the new coronavirus in humans is roughly from September 13, 2019 to December 7, 2019.

Novel coronavirus pneumonia began to spread in New York in the middle of February, and the virus was mainly brought by European travelers rather than from Asia, American Broadcasting Company reported on 9.

The study, led by researchers from the Icahn School of medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, was published on the website of med rxiv, a medical preprint, and has not yet been peer reviewed, the source said.

The study tracked the origin of the outbreak in New York City by analyzing the entire virus genome across four boroughs and two neighboring towns before March 18. The researchers found that the new crown outbreak in New York City was mainly caused by untracked transmission between the United States and Europe, and there was no sufficient evidence to prove that the outbreak was directly transmitted from China or other parts of Asia.

"Phylogenetic analysis of 84 different SARS cov2 genomes shows that these viruses are mainly from Europe and the rest of the United States," said hammvan Bakel, a geneticist at the Icahn School of medicine in Mount Sinai In addition, in a statement, viviana Simon, Professor of Microbiology and infectious diseases at the Icahn School of medicine in Mount Sinai, said that of the 78 cases studied, only one was infected with a virus apparently introduced from Asia, and that the virus was most closely related to a virus isolate from Seattle.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases at the National Institutes of health, told ABC that the new study "may be right about how and when covid-19 is in New York".

Up to now, no paper has been able to give a clear answer on the origin of the virus. But as early as February 28, Michael Ryan, who's head of the health emergency program, said at a conference, "we need to understand the source of the virus so that we can control it and prevent it from coming back, not blame anyone." In fact, with the global spread of the new crown epidemic, the voice against the politicization and stigmatization of the virus has become the mainstream.

On April 7, the international comprehensive science weekly nature published an editorial titled stop the stigmatization of new coronavirus, apologizing for the association between new coronavirus and Wuhan. The editorial stressed that "the insistence on linking a virus and the disease it causes to a place is irresponsible and needs to be stopped immediately."

According to the editorial, many leaders want to listen to the scientific opinions of experts and take action accordingly to cope with the new coronavirus pandemic and save lives. In terms of terminology, the opinions from experts are clear: we must do our best to avoid and reduce stigmatization; do not compare covid-19 with specific groups or places; the virus will not discriminate - all of us are at risk. "The stigmatization of the new coronavirus must stop - without delay."

Reprint from network
-------------------------
Disclaimer: the main purpose of reprinted content is to share information, we keep neutral on the statements and opinions in the text, and provide no express or implied guarantee for the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the content. If you think our authorization or source mark is inconsistent with the facts, or infringes the rights and interests of the original copyright author, please inform us in time, and we will delete it within 24 hours.