Genetic testing on samples collected during the earliest days of the covid-19 outbreak suggests it is likely that the virus spread from animals to humans at the Huanan seafood market

Scientists searching for the origins of COVID-19 have zeroed in on a short list of animals that possibly helped spread it to people.

After an in-depth analysis of the genetic material from hundreds of swabs taken from the walls, floors, machines and drains inside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China — a site that’s been described as an epicenter of early spread of Covid-19 — scientists say they now know exactly which species of animals were in the same area where investigators also found the most positive samples the virus that causes Covid-19.

A new peer-reviewed paper presents evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic started in a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where many of the first cases of the disease were identified. The paper, published Thursday in the scientific journal Cell,

Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood Market supports hypothesis that the COVID pandemic spread from animals there.

Researchers have published new evidence supporting the theory that humans first caught the virus from infected animals at a market in late 2019.

A recent study published in the journal Cell provides compelling evidence supporting the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, likely through the transmission of the virus from animals to humans.

Genetic evidence from a new report suggests the coronavirus pandemic most likely spilled over from animals in the Wuhan market.

It involved analysing millions of short fragments of genetic code – both DNA and RNA – to establish what animals and viruses were in the market in January 2020. "We are seeing