The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic

Worobey, M. et al. (2022) The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Science, 377(6609), pp. 951-959. (doi: 10.1126/science.abp8715) (PMID:35881010) (PMCID:PMC9348750)

[img] Text
275632.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

7MB

Abstract

Understanding how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in 2019 is critical to preventing zoonotic outbreaks before they become the next pandemic. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, was identified as a likely source of cases in early reports but later this conclusion became controversial. We show the earliest known COVID-19 cases from December 2019, including those without reported direct links, were geographically centered on this market. We report that live SARS-CoV-2 susceptible mammals were sold at the market in late 2019 and, within the market, SARS-CoV-2-positive environmental samples were spatially associated with vendors selling live mammals. While there is insufficient evidence to define upstream events, and exact circumstances remain obscure, our analyses indicate that the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 occurred via the live wildlife trade in China, and show that the Huanan market was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Robertson, Professor David
Creator Roles:
Robertson, D. L.Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Worobey, M., Levy, J. I., Serrano, L. M., Crits-Christoph, A., Pekar, J. E., Goldstein, S. A., Rasmussen, A. L., Kraemer, M. U. G., Newman, C., Koopmans, M. P. G., Suchard, M. A., Wertheim, J. O., Lemey, P., Robertson, D. L., Garry, R. F., Holmes, E. C., Rambaut, A., and Andersen, K. G.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
Journal Name:Science
Publisher:American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN:0036-8075
ISSN (Online):1095-9203
Published Online:26 July 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Science 377(6609): 951-959
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
Related URLs:
Data DOI:10.5281/zenodo.6786454

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
172630014Cross-Cutting Programme – Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics (Programme 9)David RobertsonMedical Research Council (MRC)MC_UU_12014/12III - Centre for Virus Research