COVID-19 maybe not from China.

[Jerome Marot]

There appear to be some evidence that the virus was present in Europe earlier in 2019. Here a study from France:

Evidence of early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in France: findings from the population-based “CONSTANCES” cohort - European Journal of Epidemiology

Using serum samples routinely collected in 9144 adults from a French general population-based cohort, we identified 353 participants with a positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG test, among whom 13 were sampled between November 2019 and January 2020 and were confirmed by neutralizing antibodies testing...

link.springer.com

 

[Asher Kelman]

But likely from somewhere with Asian bats!

if we find a similar virus in European bats or other animals that would turn all our epidemiology on its head.

This data does show how much we need to investing in understanding the biosphere og planet earth.

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

But likely from somewhere with Asian bats!

Good point, although recent news show that very closely related viruses are present in bat species from south-east Asia.

Also: bats flying range is smaller than the one of birds, but we should keep in mind that the avian flu (H5N1) was spread by bird flight between Asia and Europe.

 

[Asher Kelman]

We need to encourage the natural sciences so we are not so ill-equipped to grasp even the nature or extent of the potential threats to humans, never mind have robust defense!

Asher

 

[James Lemon]

Good point, although recent news show that very closely related viruses are present in bat species from south-east Asia.

Also: bats flying range is smaller than the one of birds, but we should keep in mind that the avian flu (H5N1) was spread by bird flight between Asia and Europe.

Maybe it was a research worker that was working with the bats ,got bitten then flew to another location by a jumbo jet?

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4102619

 

[Asher Kelman]

Maybe it was a research worker that was working with the bats ,got bitten then flew to another location by a jumbo jet?

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4102619

There are endless plausible “maybe”s but the nucleotide sequence is pretty well known and varies only once in about 3 new people serial infected. So we can eventually accurately trace back families of offspring. So we will know the answer once we have sampled vintage banked sera from up to 50 years ago!

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

Maybe it was a research worker that was working with the bats ,got bitten then flew to another location by a jumbo jet?
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4102619

Humans have close contacts with animals all the time. Think about farmers, hunters, etc... This happens on all continents. We raise animals, hunt animals and may get infected either by their droppings or when slaughtering them.

I, for example, keep bees. There are very few diseases that are transmissible from bees to humans, but at least one is known (stonebrood). Then, where the hives are, there are rodents, who are known to transmit hantavirus and there are ticks, who are known to transmit lime disease and meningitis. There are foxes, which are a vector for rabies and echinococcus multilocularis (some kind of intestinal parasite unknown to the English language, but quite serious). This is northern Europe (Germany), a place which is by most accounts considered a parangon of safety. This is only a small sample of the serious diseases I know of, which is a subset of the diseases science knows of, which is a subset of all diseases, before any mutations. And, obviously, I did not take into account diseases which were once common but have been largely put under control by treatment or vaccination.

Now we found out that some Chinese people like bat soup. Big deal.

 

[James Lemon]

Humans have close contacts with animals all the time. Think about farmers, hunters, etc... This happens on all continents. We raise animals, hunt animals and may get infected either by their droppings or when slaughtering them.

I, for example, keep bees. There are very few diseases that are transmissible from bees to humans, but at least one is known (stonebrood). Then, where the hives are, there are rodents, who are known to transmit hantavirus and there are ticks, who are known to transmit lime disease and meningitis. There are foxes, which are a vector for rabies and echinococcus multilocularis (some kind of intestinal parasite unknown to the English language, but quite serious). This is northern Europe (Germany), a place which is by most accounts considered a parangon of safety. This is only a small sample of the serious diseases I know of, which is a subset of the diseases science knows of, which is a subset of all diseases, before any mutations. And, obviously, I did not take into account diseases which were once common but have been largely put under control by treatment or vaccination.

Now we found out that some Chinese people like bat soup. Big deal.

You don't have to be Chinese to like bat soup just bat crazy.