New sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in addition to further genomic knowledge primarily based on samples taken from a stay animal market in Wuhan, China in 2020 have been briefly uploaded to the open entry GISAID database by Chinese language scientists earlier this yr, permitting them to be seen by researchers in different international locations, in accordance with a Saturday assertion from the WHO’s Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO).
The sequences steered that raccoon canines have been current available in the market and should have additionally been contaminated by the coronavirus, offering a brand new clue within the chain of transmission that finally reached people, in accordance with the WHO.
Entry to the knowledge was subsequently restricted “apparently to permit additional knowledge updates” by the Chinese language Middle for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), the assertion added.
WHO officers mentioned the matter with Chinese language colleagues, who defined that the brand new knowledge have been supposed for use to replace a preprint examine from 2022. China’s CDC plans to re-submit the paper to the scientific journal Nature for publication, in accordance with the assertion.
WHO officers say such data, whereas not conclusive, represents a brand new lead into the investigation of COVID’s origins and may have been shared instantly.
“These knowledge don’t present a definitive reply to the query of how the pandemic started, however each piece of information is vital in transferring us nearer to that reply,” WHO Director-Normal Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on Friday. “These knowledge may have – and may have – been shared three years in the past.”
“We proceed to name on China to be clear in sharing knowledge, and to conduct the required investigations and share the outcomes,” he stated.
SAGO was tasked by the WHO to proceed to research the origins of the pandemic that has killed almost 7 million individuals worldwide.
The Chinese language CDC didn’t instantly reply to the WHO’s newest assertion.
‘TOO EARLY’ FOR CONCLUSION
When requested by Reuters why the sequences weren’t uploaded earlier than, George Gao, professor on the Institute of Microbiology on the Chinese language Academy of Sciences and former head of the Chinese language CDC, stated the information uploaded have been “nothing new.”
He added that GISAID, the Munich-based pathogen database, took down the sequences, not the Chinese language scientists, and that he was in touch with WHO.
It’s “too early for any conclusion,” he added in an emailed assertion. “All this have to be left for scientists to work on, NOT for journalists or public. We’re desirous to know the reply.”
A spokesperson for GISAID stated it doesn’t take down knowledge. They stated the sequences had been “recalled” and “are presently being up to date with newer and extra knowledge as a part of a manuscript presently beneath evaluation”.
The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was shut down by Chinese language authorities after the novel coronavirus emerged within the metropolis in late 2019. The market has since been a spotlight of examine of whether or not the virus had contaminated a number of different species earlier than leaping to people.
The WHO and different scientists have additionally stated they can not rule out the chance that the virus emerged from a high-security laboratory in Wuhan that research harmful pathogens. China denies any such hyperlink.
The 2022 preprint paper stated {that a} small portion of 923 samples collected from the stalls and sewage methods in and across the market examined optimistic for the virus; no virus was detected in 457 animal samples examined. The paper stated initially that raccoon canines weren’t among the many animals examined.
The brand new evaluation suggests “that raccoon canine and different animals might have been current earlier than the market was cleaned as a part of the general public well being intervention,” the SAGO assertion stated.
