Are Raccoon Dogs Reason For COVID-19 Virus Origin? Know What Experts Say

After the major attack of the pandemic COVID-19, an international team of virus experts has stated that the deadly virus COVID may have been started by raccoon dogs from China’s Wuhan market, said media reports.

Infected animals might be the reason

According to the experts, the virus could have been ignited by an infected animal that was being dealt with through the illegal wildlife trade.

In January 2020, as per the reports, swabs from within and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market were used to collect the genetic data. This came after the Chinese authorities had shut down the market because of suspicions that it was linked to the outbreak of a new virus.

During the search, the animals were cleared out from the market, however, the researchers collected swabs from walls, floors, metal cages and carts. After testing, the result of the samples was COVID positive.

Moreover, there were three scientists involved in the analysis. They said that the genetic material belonged to animals, with significant amounts that matched the raccoon dog.

Further, the reports said that genetic samples from the market were added to a global database. However, were later deleted after the scientists questioned China about them.

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Prediction of virus transfer

Despite the reports, the genetic samples of both the animals and the virus do not prove that the raccoon dog itself was infected. Also, even if there are chances of the dog being infected, it is yet not clear that the animal had exposed humans to it.

It is said that there were possibilities that the virus might have been transferred from another animal to people or maybe someone infected with the virus could spread the virus to a raccoon dog.

Earlier, there was a big debate on the COVID-19 origin theories after the FBI Director, Christopher Wray, publicly stated that the bureau believed COVID-19 most likely originated in a “Chinese government-controlled lab,” however, in response, Meanwhile, Beijing accused Washington of “political manipulation.” Responding to the FBI Director, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the involvement of the US intelligence community was evidence enough of the “politicization of origin tracing.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also urged all countries of the world to gather intelligence about the origins of the COVID-19 virus and share that with the global health body.

The information about the origins of the COVID-19 virus is not about blaming someone, but more about advancing our understanding of how this pandemic started, added WHO.