A new study supports the theory that the coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic originated from Hunan Seafood Wholesale wet market in Wuhan, China.

After an in-depth analysis of the genetic material from hundreds of swabs taken from the walls, floors, machines and drains inside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China — a site that’s been described as an epicenter of early spread of Covid-19 — scientists say they now know exactly which species of animals were in the same area where investigators also found the most positive samples the virus that causes Covid-19.

While research shows SARS-CoV-2 wasn't made in a lab, its emergence in the same city as the WIV has raised suspicions and inspired widespread speculation. Even if it evolved naturally, for example, a popular theory suggests the virus could have escaped after researchers collected it from the wild.

With genetic samples from the infamous Wuhan market, a new study makes the case that raccoon dogs are likely the animal that infected humans. Proponents of the lab leak theory are dubious.

Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood Market supports hypothesis that the COVID pandemic spread from animals there.

“It’s one of the most important data sets on the early pandemic and on the origin of SARS-CoV-2,” says Florence Débarre, an evolutionary biologist at the the French national research agency CNRS, and co-author of the Cell analysis.

Genetic testing on samples collected during the earliest days of the covid-19 outbreak suggests it is likely that the virus spread from animals to humans at the Huanan seafood market

Genetic evidence from a new report suggests the coronavirus pandemic most likely spilled over from animals in the Wuhan market.

It involved analysing millions of short fragments of genetic code – both DNA and RNA – to establish what animals and viruses were in the market in January 2020. "We are seeing

A new peer-reviewed paper presents evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic started in a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where many of the first cases of the disease were identified. The paper, published Thursday in the scientific journal Cell,