Raccoon Dogs Behind COVID-19? New Science Report Links Illegally Traded Animals To Coronavirus In Wuhan

A new scientific report says that raccoon dogs could be behind the origin of the COVID-19 infection that killed millions of people worldwide. 

What Happened: After sifting through the genetic contents of a swab that Chinese investigators first collected in 2020 while combing a market in Wuhan for clues about the outbreak, a team of international experts revealed that it contained loads of genetic material from raccoon dogs.

The sample, along with COVID's genetic signatures, contained more than 4,500 lengthy fragments of genetic material from raccoon dogs. It had none from humans, the report added.

Some COVID-positive swabs taken from other objects and surfaces at the market also had more genetic material from animals than from humans.

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Although the experts found genetic material from animals in the same place as genetic material from the virus doesn’t mean the animals were infected.

However, some scientists believe that since they found more genetic material from animals, especially raccoon dogs, it suggests that these animals might have been carrying the virus at the market in late 2019.

The report said the evidence from the swab strengthens the case that illegally traded wild animals ignited the pandemic.

"You look at them and say those are probably infected animals," Theodora Hatziioannou, a virologist at Rockefeller University, The New York Times reported. 

"If it was a human shedding the virus, one would expect to find human DNA there, too."

The Chinese researchers who earlier uploaded the important data about the virus removed it from the database when the international team of experts contacted them. Later, the database administrators stopped international scientists from accessing the information, accusing them of breaking the rules. 

Frederic Bushman, a microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, reportedly agreed that the report's methods were sound but said, "I think the simplest explanation is that it's an infected raccoon dog."

"I don't think it's absolute proof."

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