Kerby Anderson
The headline in the Atlantic proclaims, “The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic.” It goes on to say that a new analysis of genetic samples from China appears to link the pandemic’s origin to raccoon dogs. This is, of course, an attempt to argue that the virus came from the wet market in Wuhan, China and not from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
As I mentioned two weeks ago in my last commentary on this issue, we may never know the origin of the virus, but we do know many scientists were distorting the truth and many in the press were suppressing the truth. I am troubled that the mainstream press seemed incurious about the origin of a virus that has killed millions worldwide. Knowing its origin might be helpful in preventing a future pandemic. I am also concerned that scientists (who seem to have a vested interest) keep trying to prove the virus came from animals and the wet market
It is worth highlighting the fact that the Associated Press article on raccoon dogs and the virus mentions later in the article that scientists did not find the virus within any animal. Let me remind you that scientists tested tens of thousands of animals (pigs, goats, geese). China researchers even claimed they tested 17,000 bats but did not find a single case of the virus.
We do know that the scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were performing gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses. We also know they tested their research on mice whose lungs had been genetically altered to be more like human lungs.
One of the scientists quoted in the Atlantic article declares that “this really strengthens the case for a natural origin.” She assumes that humans caught the virus from a raccoon dog. But isn’t it possible that a raccoon dog caught the virus from a human? So much for the “strongest evidence yet” headline.
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Penna Dexter