Genetic data links SARS-CoV-2 to raccoon dogs in China market, scientists say
Newly obtained genetic data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) links the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 to animals—specifically raccoon dogs—at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, where the earliest COVID-19 cases centered, a group of independent scientists told the World Health Organization this week.
Raccoon dogs—foxlike animals whose faces closely resemble those of raccoons—are known to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and were known to be sold at the market.
Such close commingling of genetic material from the virus and a susceptible animal at the epicenter of the outbreak provides additional—though still inconclusive—evidence in support of a natural spillover hypothesis instead of the main competing hypothesis of a laboratory biosafety breach, i.e., a "lab leak." Previous genetic studies had identified two genetic lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in people early in the pandemic, suggesting two separate cross-species jumps into humans.
In a spillover scenario, the virus could have leap-frogged to humans from its reservoir in bats via raccoon dogs, which would be considered an intermediate host. This is how many animal viruses move to humans, particularly coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2. After the 2003 SARS outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-1, data suggested that masked palm civets and potentially other wild animals—including a raccoon dog—acted as intermediate hosts at a wild animal market much like the Huanan market. Another coronavirus, MERS-CoV, which causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), is also known to spread to people via dromedary camels.
