The idea has often been informed by (and has, in turn, fueled) racist and xenophobic sentiments. The idea of a leak at the WIV also gained support due to secrecy during the Chinese government's response. If a coronavirus outbreak occurs in China, there is a high likelihood it will occur near a large city and therefore near a laboratory studying coronaviruses. Virus outbreaks tend to begin in rural areas, but are first noticed in large cities. However, most large Chinese cities have laboratories which study coronaviruses. Ĭentral to many versions of the lab leak theory is suspicion about the proximity of the outbreak to a virology institute that studies coronaviruses, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). There is no evidence SARS-CoV-2 existed in any laboratory prior to the pandemic. ![]() Several candidate animal species have been identified as potential intermediate hosts. ![]() Available evidence suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was originally harbored by bats, and spread to humans from infected wild animals, functioning as an intermediate host, at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019. The theory is highly controversial most scientists believe the virus spilled into human populations through natural zoonosis, similar to the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV outbreaks, and consistent with other pandemics in human history. The COVID-19 lab leak theory, or lab leak hypothesis, is the idea that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, is the result of a laboratory leak. ![]() The Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China
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