A World Well being Group workforce trying into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday visited the meals market within the Chinese language metropolis of Wuhan that was linked to many early infections.
The workforce members visited the Huanan Seafood Marketplace for about an hour within the afternoon, and considered one of them flashed a thumbs up signal when reporters requested how the journey was going.
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The market was the location of a December 2019 outbreak of the virus. Scientists initially suspected the virus got here from wild animals offered out there. The market has since been largely dominated out however it might present hints to how the virus unfold so broadly.
“Crucial web site visits right now — a wholesale market first & Huanan Seafood Market simply now,” Peter Daszak, a zoologist with the U.S. group EcoHealth Alliance and a member of the WHO workforce, stated in a tweet. “Very informative & essential for our joint groups to grasp the epidemiology of COVID because it began to unfold on the finish of 2019.”
Earlier within the day, the workforce members had been additionally seen strolling by means of sections of the Baishazhou market — one of many largest moist markets in Wuhan — surrounded by a big entourage of Chinese language officers and representatives. The market was the meals distribution centre for Wuhan through the metropolis’s 76-day lockdown final yr.
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The members, with experience in veterinary medication, virology, meals security and epidemiology, have up to now visited two hospitals on the centre of the early outbreak — Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital and the Hubei Built-in Chinese language and Western Medication Hospital.
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On Saturday, in addition they visited a museum exhibition devoted to the early historical past of COVID-19.
The mission has grow to be politically charged, as China seeks to keep away from blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak.
A single go to by scientists is unlikely to substantiate the virus’s origins. Pinning down an outbreak’s animal reservoir is usually an exhaustive endeavour that takes years of analysis together with taking animal samples, genetic evaluation and epidemiological research.
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One chance is {that a} wildlife poacher might need handed the virus to merchants who carried it to Wuhan. The Chinese language authorities has promoted theories, with little proof, that the outbreak might need began with imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion roundly rejected by worldwide scientists and companies.
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Soo reported from Hong Kong.
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