"the progenitor of known SARS-CoV-2 sequences likely contained three mutations relative to the market viruses that made it more similar to SARS-CoV-2’s bat coronavirus relatives."
So sort of. The virus existed somewhere before the versions sampled in the seafood market, yes. It's possible that it existed in the seafood market but was not sampled there.
There's no way to know where it first existed in humans without more information and the deletion of this early data is definitely suspicious.
A scenario that doesn't get much attention is a botched containment of a natural spillover. The virus was natural, but the first epidemic covered up. They thought they had it under control until it showed up outside their quarantined area and the public became aware of it. That tracks with the deletions and initial attempts at suppression of medical staff. It would also be a similar response to the denial we saw when it first hit the US, even though it was already evident there was community transmission: "You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero".
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 42.6 ms ] threadSo sort of. The virus existed somewhere before the versions sampled in the seafood market, yes. It's possible that it existed in the seafood market but was not sampled there.
There's no way to know where it first existed in humans without more information and the deletion of this early data is definitely suspicious.
NYtimes: Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/science/coronavirus-seque...
Journal correction: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202104078