A top scientist said in the journal Science on Thursday that the first Covid-19 case discovered in Wuhan, China and proposed by the World Health Organization was actually a few days later than previously thought, and it was in the animal market. Virologist Michael Voroby wrote that the initial patient was not a man who had never been to the Wuhan market where wild animals and domestic animals were sold, but the first known Covid-19 case was a man who had been in the market. Women who have worked.

For Worobey, this key information and his analysis of other early Covid-19 cases in the city clearly indicate that the virus originated in animals. In the absence of definitive evidence, since the pandemic began about two years ago, experts have launched a heated debate on the origin of the virus. Worobey is one of the 15 or so experts who published a column in Science in mid-May asking for serious consideration of the virus leaked from the Wuhan laboratory.

The outbreak “provides strong evidence for the origin of the live animal market of the pandemic.” One criticism of the market theory is that since the health authorities issued an alert on suspicious disease cases related to the market as early as December 30, 2019, this would introduce bias and cause more cases to be found there than in other places because it has been It attracted people’s attention. To refute this argument, Worobey analyzed the cases reported by the two hospitals before the alarm was issued.

These cases are also related to the market to a large extent, while those that are not related to the market are geographically concentrated around the market. “In this city of 11 million people, half of the early cases were related to a place the size of a football field,” Vorobby told the New York Times. “If there is no outbreak, it is difficult to explain that this model starts from the market.” Another criticism of this theory is based on the fact that the first case discovered has nothing to do with the market.

However, although the WHO report claimed that the man who was initially identified as patient zero became ill on December 8, according to Vorobby, he did not actually become ill until December 16. This inference is based on a video interview he discovered, a case described in a scientific article, and a hospital medical record that matches the 41-year-old man.

This means that the first reported case will be a woman working in the market who fell ill on December 11. Peter Daszak, a disease expert on the WHO investigation team, said Vorobey’s analysis convinced him.

News Source : Hindustan Times