Well-known German virologist critiques the Worobey and Pekar preprints. Describing their multiple spillover hypothesis at the market as "comical" and making no sense from the POV of plausibility.
h/t @gdemaneuf
ardaudiothek.de/episode/kekule…
h/t @gdemaneuf
ardaudiothek.de/episode/kekule…
@gdemaneuf The reason why #ProximalOrigin authors & Friends are pushing the multiple spillover hypothesis so hard is because otherwise the market zoonosis hypothesis has no legs.
But this multiple spillover hypothesis is itself not supported by any evidence.
But this multiple spillover hypothesis is itself not supported by any evidence.
https://twitter.com/gdemaneuf/status/1501486217569116163?s=20&t=67a75zRjlia_-r085GSa3Q
All early market cases were Lineage B; no trace of the "ancestral" Lineage A (more similar to bat coronaviruses than B).
When Lineage A was finally detected in one surface sample from the market in 2020, the sequence was of a later version of Lineage A.
When Lineage A was finally detected in one surface sample from the market in 2020, the sequence was of a later version of Lineage A.
https://twitter.com/AntGDuarte/status/1500119609382420485
Despite lacking key evidence for a single spillover event at the market, the #ProximalOrigin authors & Friends insist that there were multiple spillovers.
If there was so much cross-species transmission happening, where are the infected animals?
If there was so much cross-species transmission happening, where are the infected animals?
https://twitter.com/Clarksterh/status/1499853650922926080
A lot of journalists might have gotten confused by the technical language in the recent preprints, but Lineage A and B are only separated by 2 mutations.
2 mutations.
This doesn't require multiple spillovers from animals into humans.
2 mutations.
This doesn't require multiple spillovers from animals into humans.
If the authors insist that this is unlikely and that A and B must have spilled over separately, then the 2020 lineage A sequence at the market with another 2 mutations compared to the earlier lineage A must've required yet another animal spillover.
And the Omicron, which has dozens of mutations, must've then - in these authors' judgment - required a massive set of zoonoses.
*sarcasm warning*
*sarcasm warning*
The most parsimonious explanation of currently available genetic + epidemiological evidence is that the Covid-19 outbreak preceded the Huanan market Dec 2019 cluster.
There is no sign of an original animal source of SARS2 or similar viruses in Wuhan's animal trading community.
There is no sign of an original animal source of SARS2 or similar viruses in Wuhan's animal trading community.
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