Why the Covid lab-leak theory has new life – MENAFN.COM

Why the Covid lab-leak theory has new life – MENAFN.COM

(MENAFN - Asia Times) Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been various hypotheses to explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2. So far, none of these hypotheses have shown the origins of the virus. One of the first scenarios put forward - that the Wuhan seafood market allowed for a rapid dispersion of the virus - seems less certain now. After a year of intensive research, the virus has still not been identified in any animals. Animal-human transmission, however, remains one of the strongest hypotheses explaining the appearance of the new coronavirus : the coronavirus was transmitted from bats to humans through an intermediate host. It would not be the first time this happened. In the case of MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) , camels likely served as the intermediate host. For SARS-CoV-2, pangolins , scaly anteaters sold illegally in the Wuhan market, may be the host, although this hypothesis requires more convincing evidence. I am a professor in the department of biological sciences at Université du Québec in Montréal, an expert in virology, particularly in human retroviruses, and in human coronaviruses. The idea that SARS-CoV-2 had accidentally leaked from a maximum-security biological laboratory - biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) -