Possible Bat Origin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

[AntiFascist]

CDC-Emerging Infection Diseases
Volume 26, Number 7—July 2020 (Preliminary Release)

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0092_article

...
Although the Wuhan market was initially suspected to be the epicenter of the epidemic, the immediate source remains elusive. The close relatedness among SARS-CoV-2 strains suggested that the Wuhan outbreak probably originated from a point source with subsequent human-to-human transmission, in contrast to the polyphyletic origin of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (14). If the Wuhan market was the source, a possibility is that bats carrying the parental SARSr-BatCoVs were mixed in the market, enabling virus recombination. However, no animal samples from the market were reported to be positive. Moreover, the first identified case-patient and other early case-patients had not visited the market (15), suggesting the possibility of an alternative source.

Because the RBD is considered a hot spot for construction of recombinant CoVs for receptor and viral replication studies, the evolutionarily distinct SARS-CoV-2 RBD and the unique insertion of S1/S2 cleavage site among Sarbecovirus species have raised the suspicion of an artificial recombinant virus. However, there is currently no evidence showing that SARS-CoV-2 is an artificial recombinant, which theoretically might not carry signature sequences. Further surveillance studies in bats are needed to identify the possible source and evolutionary path of SARS-CoV-2.

[paleotn]

1. Interesting story along those lines....

Shi Zhengli is a renowned expert on coronavirues in bats. I tend to lean towards the experts.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/

[AntiFascist]

3. Notice that the Wuhan CDC contacted Shi Zhengli on December 30th...

but there are reports (unsubstantiated) that the Wuhan CDC lab had been studying the virus for weeks before that. One of the Wuhan CDC facilities is much closer to the wet market and hospital where the early cluster of cases occurred than Zhengli's WIV lab.

[MosheFeingold]

2. I tend to follow the British intelligence a bit

They strike me as far less political than our own. Maybe it's just because I remember watching James Bond in 1960s films. Or maybe they're good.

Anyway, they've been saying this was probably a screw up -- releasing a natural virus being studied in a lab -- for altruistic purposes, for some time now.

Just from how the CCP overreacts to such a suggestion lends it credence, as well.

[Budi]

4. I still suspect Russia's Vector Lab & the Wuhan games in late 2019.

I'm sticking to that.

Because it's as culpable as any yet