Waiting for the truth: is reluctance in accepting an early origin hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 delaying our understanding of viral emergence?
Genre
Journal articleDate
2022-03-16Author
Canuti, MartaBianchi, Silvia
Kolb, Otto
Pond, Sergei

Kumar, Sudhir

Gori, Maria
Fappani, Clara
Colzani, Daniela
Borghi, Elisa
Zuccotti, Gianvincenzo
Raviglione, Mario C.
Tanzi, Elisabetta
Amendola, Antonella
Group
Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (Temple University)Department
BiologyPermanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/7551
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https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008386Abstract
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.Citation
Canuti M, Bianchi S, Kolbl O, et alWaiting for the truth: is reluctance in accepting an early origin hypothesis for SARS-CoV-2 delaying our understanding of viral emergence?BMJ Global Health 2022;7:e008386.Citation to related work
BMJ PublicationsHas part
BMJ Global Health, Vol. 7, No. 3ADA compliance
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/7529