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CBL44 t1_iz2eb8x wrote

Reply to comment by bryan_pieces in Scientists believe bats first transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to humans in December 2019, and while the virus has since evolved into several variants such as delta and omicron, a new study indicates the virus is still highly transmissible between mammals. by MistWeaver80

It obviously could but that doesn't mean it did. Wuhan is a unlikely place for a natural jump to humans and the most likely place for an accidental lab origin.

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bryan_pieces t1_iz2ek1n wrote

What makes it unlikely? The area is literally researched for its coronaviruses in the local bat population. Also close contact with the human population

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CBL44 t1_iz2phlv wrote

The coronavirus bats tend to live in southern China or Laos and those areas are where the closest genetic relatives to Covid 19 have been found. It is also where SARS occurred. No one in the Wuhan lab has found a nearby close Covid 19 relative.

It is certainly possible that it was a natural spillover event in Wuhan or via farmed animals but Wuhan is not where you would have predicted the next SARS outbreak to occur.

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Strazdas1 t1_iz4d1x3 wrote

There is no local bat population in Wuhan. the bats in the lab are imported from the southern areas of China.

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