Sep 21, 2024 09:53 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1058525
EXCERPT: . . . Putting wild animals with viruses in contact with humans in the heart of big cities, where population densities make it easy for viruses to take hold, is one of the most risky things humans can do, Worobey said.
"Not all of those viruses have the potential to start a pandemic, but when you do bring them in, it's like a spark in a tinderbox," he said.
The researchers also performed evolutionary analysis of the earliest viral genomes reported in the pandemic. The results imply that there were very few, if any, humans infected prior to the market outbreak. This is consistent with spillovers from animals to humans within the market, then subsequent spread throughout Wuhan and, eventually, the whole world, Worobey said.
While the data cannot prove whether one or more of these animals were infected, the analyses provide a clear list of the species that most likely could have carried the virus.
The study also presents the most complete record of animal species and specific populations within those species that could have acted as intermediate hosts at the market, Worobey said.
"It gives us clues about the populations that were represented there for each species," he said. "Where in Southeast Asia did they live? Where might they have come from? How many were farmed versus wild-caught and then moved into the transportation networks of illegal wildlife?"
Although there has been an increased focus on lab safety since the pandemic began more than four years ago, Worobey says "surprisingly little has been done to decrease the risk of a virus jumping from wildlife into humans again."
"We need to start putting the evidence of how this pandemic started into action by taking serious, concrete action to stop the perilous practice of bringing live animals with potential pandemic pathogens into densely populated urban areas," he said... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
EXCERPT: . . . Putting wild animals with viruses in contact with humans in the heart of big cities, where population densities make it easy for viruses to take hold, is one of the most risky things humans can do, Worobey said.
"Not all of those viruses have the potential to start a pandemic, but when you do bring them in, it's like a spark in a tinderbox," he said.
The researchers also performed evolutionary analysis of the earliest viral genomes reported in the pandemic. The results imply that there were very few, if any, humans infected prior to the market outbreak. This is consistent with spillovers from animals to humans within the market, then subsequent spread throughout Wuhan and, eventually, the whole world, Worobey said.
While the data cannot prove whether one or more of these animals were infected, the analyses provide a clear list of the species that most likely could have carried the virus.
The study also presents the most complete record of animal species and specific populations within those species that could have acted as intermediate hosts at the market, Worobey said.
"It gives us clues about the populations that were represented there for each species," he said. "Where in Southeast Asia did they live? Where might they have come from? How many were farmed versus wild-caught and then moved into the transportation networks of illegal wildlife?"
Although there has been an increased focus on lab safety since the pandemic began more than four years ago, Worobey says "surprisingly little has been done to decrease the risk of a virus jumping from wildlife into humans again."
"We need to start putting the evidence of how this pandemic started into action by taking serious, concrete action to stop the perilous practice of bringing live animals with potential pandemic pathogens into densely populated urban areas," he said... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
