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Waiting for the truth: is reluctance in accepting an early origin hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 delaying our understanding of viral emergence?
- Source :
- BMJ global health. 7(3)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, key questions about the emergence of its aetiological agent (SARS-CoV-2) remain a matter of considerable debate. Identifying when SARS-CoV-2 began spreading among people is one of those questions. Although the current canonically accepted timeline hypothesises viral emergence in Wuhan, China, in November or December 2019, a growing body of diverse studies provides evidence that the virus may have been spreading worldwide weeks, or even months, prior to that time. However, the hypothesis of earlier SARS-CoV-2 circulation is often dismissed with prejudicial scepticism and experimental studies pointing to early origins are frequently and speculatively attributed to false-positive tests. In this paper, we critically review current evidence that SARS-CoV-2 had been circulating prior to December of 2019, and emphasise how, despite some scientific limitations, this hypothesis should no longer be ignored and considered sufficient to warrant further larger-scale studies to determine its veracity.
- Subjects :
- China
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Humans
Pandemics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20597908
- Volume :
- 7
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMJ global health
- Accession number :
- edsair.pmid..........34cc1900f2694d3c0f6c88654522f2ef