Where did COVID-19 originate? Saskatoon lab helps with genetic analysis that points to animal market

A team of scientists, including one from Saskatoon, say they have strong evidence the COVID-19 virus jumped from infected animals to humans in a market in Wuhan, China, and didn't originate with a lab leak.A woman walks past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, in January 2020. Researchers believe COVID-19 likely jumped from infected animals at the market to humans at the start of the pandemic.

The analysis doesn't prove the animals in those areas were infected. However, the proximity of COVID-19 samples to where their DNA was located means it's a strong likelihood they were carriers, according to the study. The team's previous research, alongside other peer-reviewed studies, had determined the Huanan Market as the most likely place where the pandemic jumped to humans, specifically in association with the live animal trade.

The scientists say the new evidence makes the laboratory leak hypothesis incredibly difficult to support.

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