Where did COVID-19 originate? Saskatoon lab helps with genetic analysis that points to animal market – CBC
Study concludes that there’s almost no chance the virus originated from a lab leak
Nov 20, 2024
A team of scientists, including one in Saskatoon, say they have strong evidence that the COVID-19 virus jumped from infected animals to humans, rather than originating from a laboratory leak.
The analysis of hundreds of genetic samples provides strong but circumstantial evidence that the pandemic’s origin is connected to the wildlife trade in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, said Angie Rasmussen, a study co-author and virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infection Disease Organization.
The study, published this fall in the journal Cell, shows the virus emerged at the market in Wuhan, China, at the same time as the pandemic began in the human population, suggesting it was the place of origin and linked to the live animals that were being sold there.
