Almost all pandemic viruses have zoonotic origins, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and SARS-CoV-2 (1). During SARS outbreaks between 2002 and 2003, a live animal source of SARS-like viruses was identified at a market in Guangdong, China, providing unequivocal understanding of its zoonotic origin. Although the most probable reservoir animal for SARS-CoV-2 is Rhinolophus bats (2, 3), zoonotic spillovers likely involve an intermediate animal. Various SARS-CoV-2-susceptible intermediate animals were sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, such as raccoon dogs, foxes, and mink. But these were unavailable for testing, so direct evidence of an animal source is lacking. Thus, it remains unknown exactly how SARS-CoV-2 emerged and led to the COVID-19 pandemic. On pages 951 and 960 of this issue, Worobey et al. (4) and Pekar et al. (5), respectively, provide quantitative evidence that SARS-CoV-2 emergence was likely caused by multiple zoonotic transmissions due to wildlife trading at the Huanan Market.
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