What about the cases that appeared in the fish market before the outbreak?
There was even more spread beyond the Huanan market. There are other patients with no ties to the market, quite a few in December. There were other markets. And we know that some patients had links to other markets. We still have some work to do, and then the Chinese colleagues have some more work to do.
When we sat down as a group, the Chinese team and the WHO team on the last full workday, and said, “Let’s run through the hypotheses,” the one who got the most enthusiastic support on this path – wildlife, via a domesticated wild animal in Wuhan.
What’s the next step?
It’s simple for the animal chain. The suppliers are known. They know the farm name; they know the owner of the farm. You have to go to the farm and interview the farmer and the family. You have to test them. You have to test the community. You should go and see if any animals have been left on nearby farms and see if they have any signs of infection, and see if there is any cross-border movement. If the virus is in those southern border states, it is possible that there has been some movement in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Laos or Myanmar. We are now finding more and more related viruses. There is one in Japan and one in Cambodia, one in Thailand.
For the human side, look for previous cases, for clusters; search blood banks for serum if possible. Something like that will be sensitive in China, and it will take some persuasion, diplomacy and energy to do so, because, frankly, looking for the source of this virus in China is not a big, high priority. think for the Chinese government. Everywhere this virus pops up is a political issue. That’s one of the problems, and it’s obvious and obvious to anyone who has looked at this.
Do you have a particular animal that you now suspect is an intermediate link stronger than others?
It’s too high in the sky. We don’t know if there were any civets for sale. We know that they are very easily infected. We don’t know what the situation is with the mink farms in China or the other fur farms like raccoon dogs, even though they are normally bred in another part of China. That should also be followed up.
But if you were to say which path would give you the most weight, I think in Southeast Asia or South China, the virus will emerge from bats and end up in a domesticated wildlife farm. I’ve been to many of these, and they often have different types – civets, ferret badgers, raccoon dogs. Those animals could be infected by bats.