[ad_1]
- The World Health Organization will soon release the results of its official investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
- Investigators spoke to the man currently believed to be the first person to be infected with the novel coronavirus, finding that the virus may have jumped to humans at a food market in Wuhan.
- The person believed to be the zero COVID-19 patient fell ill on December 8, 2019 and had no travel history.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) first official coronavirus investigation ended a few weeks ago, and initial findings have not provided a better explanation for the origins of COVID-19. After several months of controversial planning, researchers have found that the most likely explanation for the COVID-19 pandemic is animal-to-human transmission. It is not known which animals may have spread the virus or when the jump to humans may have occurred. In the process, WHO scientists spoke to a potential patient zero. If he was the first person to contract COVID-19, the location of the first case of covid would be moved to a food market in Wuhan rather than the infamous Huanan Market. Its history also indicates that transmission of COVID-19 may have started long before the end of December 2019, when the first cases were announced to the world.
Top Deal of the day % Title% List of prices:% original price% Price:%the price% You save:% discount_amount% (% discount_percent%)
Available on Amazon, BGR may receive a commission Available on Amazon BGR may receive commission
WHO officials met the suspected patient zero during a visit to Wuhan, The Wall Street Journal reports. The man, an office worker in his 40s, was reportedly infected on December 8. He works for a private company and had no recent travel history.
“He has a very, in a way, dull and normal life – no hiking in the mountains,” said Dr. Peter Ben Embarek. The newspaper. The man’s main hobby was surfing the internet, said Dr Peter Daszak. The two officials were on the ground in Wuhan during the infection, with Ben Embarek leading the WHO team. Patient Zero told WHO investigators his parents had visited another local community food market, not the one in Wuhan which was associated with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. China said months ago that the Wuhan market was not the source of COVID-19.
The man’s claim that his parents had visited another market fell in the end with the WHO interview. Scientists have not been able to verify further details or identify the market. Daszak said CNN that the man’s parents had tested negative, but Chinese authorities are still expected to find their contacts in the market.
It is not known when the man’s parents were tested or what type of test they received. There were no COVID-19 tests in early December 2019 because no one was looking for this particular disease. Antibody tests can determine whether a person has survived COVID-19 or not, but antibodies often start to disappear from the bloodstream several months after infection.
The report notes that the WHO team wants to identify the market and see what types of animals have been sold there. They also want to see if any of the 174 confirmed cases as of December 2019 – a figure that is higher than initial estimates – had any connections to that market. Wuhan has some 400 food markets that serve a population of 400 million.
WHO investigators said they found at least two types of animals that could carry the coronavirus in the Huanan market, including badgers, ferrets and rabbits.
Researchers also noted that the virus was spreading widely throughout the city within days of the first known cases on the market. This indicates that the epidemic could have started elsewhere. “There is clear evidence of simultaneous transmission of the virus in other places outside of the market,” Thea Fischer told reporters in Wuhan. “It seems less likely that the market is the source of the virus outbreak.” Fisher is a Danish epidemiologist and member of the WHO team.
This 40-year-old man might not be patient zero. Some researchers claim that an older man fell ill on December 1, 2019. A doctor who treated him said the man suffered from other chronic illnesses and could not speak. His relatives estimated the date on which the first symptoms appeared. WHO will publish a summary report in the coming days which will recommend further studies to determine the origin of the pandemic.
Top Deal of the day % Title% List of prices:% original price% Price:%the price% You save:% discount_amount% (% discount_percent%)
Available on Amazon, BGR may receive a commission Available on Amazon BGR may receive commission
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he even knew it he was sharing his take on tech with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he miserably fails to walk away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
[ad_2]
Source link