The Zenodo posting, which has not been peer reviewed, is the first time that the full work has been released publicly - which could pave the way for follow-up studies, such as an investigation of where the animals in the market came from that could help to pinpoint the pandemic’s start. On 16 March, The Atlantic first reported on the analysis. “Of course, this is not direct evidence,” says Leo Poon, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, “but this is the best we can get now, because all the animals have been eliminated from the market and we don’t have swabs of the animals.” The analysis - posted on 20 March to the research repository Zenodo 1 - provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 spilled over from animals to humans at the market, say some researchers.
The swabs also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease.
Raccoon dogs, bamboo rats, palm civets: these are just some of the animals whose DNA has been found in swabs taken from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, which has been linked to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. DNA from this species was found in positive SARS-CoV-2 swabs taken from the Huanan market, from where COVID-19 is thought to have spread.
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