New studies have suggested that Covid-19 evolved naturally and is far more widespread than previously believed, a media report said.
"At least four recent studies have identified coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic strain in bats and pangolins in Southeast Asia and Japan, a sign that these pathogens are more widespread than previously known and that there was ample opportunity for the virus to evolve," The Wall Street Journal said on Monday,1 March
"These latest pieces of research add to evidence that the virus, called SARS-CoV-2, likely originated in bats and then evolved naturally to infect humans, possibly through an intermediary animal," it said.
The WHO expert team, comprising experts from Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Britain, the US and Vietnam, arrived in China's Wuhan on 14 January to work with Chinese scientists on origin-tracing of the novel coronavirus.
In early February, the international team concluded their month-long research and presented their initial findings at a press conference in China, ruling out the hypothesis that the virus escaped from a laboratory, and calling for science-based approaches.
(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)