Newsweek reported the findings of geneticist Peter Forster of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Foster led a research project to understand the processes that led to the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of more than 1 000 coronavirus genomes, this scientist isolated three types: A, B and C.
A is the closest to the Coronavirus found in bats. This type has been found in Chinese and American individuals. However, A is not be the type of virus found in most cases in Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first identified.
Coronavirus outbreak may have started as early as September, scientists say https://t.co/5G5IBSbzPO
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 17, 2020
Based on data collected by Forster and colleagues, the Coronavirus epidemic actually emerged between September 13 and December 7. For Forster, Wuhan is not the source of the epidemic. Until January 17, almost all cases detected were type B. In Guangdong, a province about 800 kilometers from Wuhan, seven of the eleven cases detected were type A but these cases are few because there are few genomes available for the start of the epidemic, the Cambridge geneticist explained.
Forster added that identifying the source of the virus’s origin is essential to ensure that it does not happen again. As a reminder, the first known case of Coronavirus dates back to November 17, 2019.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, government data shows that a 55-year-old man from Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, was the first known case of Covid-19. This Coronavirus has now spread to 185 countries and regions.