New research argues that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus may not have originated at a wet market in the city, as previously thought.
A report published in The Lancet medical journal found that in 41 cases of the virus in Wuhan, only 13 cases were linked to the market.
The first reported case of the virus was also not linked to the market, according to Science, which cited The Lancet report.
Previously it was widely believed that humans caught the virus from animals such as bats and snakes in a wet market in Wuhan, where meat is sold alongside live animals in poorly regulated conditions.
New research suggests that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus that has killed 81 people and infected more than 2,700 may not have originated from the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan, China.
The virus is zoonotic, meaning it is passed from animals to humans. So experts thought humans likely caught the virus from snakes in a wet market in Wuhan, where meat is sold alongside live animals, often in poorly regulated conditions.
David Wong/South China Morning Post/Getty
However, a new report conducted by a group of Chinese scientists and published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday challenges this idea.
The research found that the virus could have originated elsewhere before entering the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market.
Looking in detail at the cases of 41 patients infected with the coronavirus, scientists found that the first reported case of the virus from December 1 had no link to the wet market, according to Science, which cited The Lancet's report.
The report also found that 13 of the 41 cases studied had no link to the marketplace.
"That's a big number, 13 with no link," Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Georgetown told Science.
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Lucey said it is possible that the first cases may have occurred in November and the virus could have spread without detection among people before it was detected in the first group of cases from the wet market, according to Science.
One way to establish for certain whether the virus outbreak originated at the market would be to take samples from the animals in the market as well as local animal populations, but the market has now been cleared and disinfected, according to The Conversation.
The Wuhan Health Authority closed down the market on January 1 and banned the trade of live animals at wet markets last Wednesday.
The virus has spread to 12 countries including the US, Australia, Japan, and Thailand.
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