The Latest Breaking News from Wuhan

US intelligence agencies are divided over whether a lab leak or a spillover from animals is the likely source of the deadly virus

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MELBOURNE, Australia — New data linking COVID-19 to raccoon dogs in a Wuhan wet market provides “important incremental evidence” supporting the hypothesis that the virus originated in wildlife, according to a scientist who has studied the genesis of the pandemic in China.

New molecular evidence pointing to their presence at the Wuhan wet market tied to COVID's early days is either a smoking gun or a red herring, experts say.

Data was released briefly, then rescinded. As NPR reported previously, there is already strong evidence pointing to these animals in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.

Analysis of gene sequences by international team finds Covid-positive samples rich in raccoon dog DNA

The briefing follows the news that DOE now concludes with “low confidence” that the virus more likely originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.

Recent reports that Department of Energy and FBI officials think the COVID-19 pandemic originated with a so-called lab leak appear to have provided all the “evidence” many require. As a scientist who has led or contributed to several peer-reviewed studies that tell a very different story, I’ve looked on with…

Scientists lean towards a natural spillover from animals, but China’s opacity means a lab leak can’t be ruled out.