Frontiers | Commentary: Lethal Pneumonia Cases in Mojiang Miners (2012) and the Mineshaft Could Provide Important Clues to the Origin of SARS-CoV-2
Introduction It has been more than 1 year since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020 (1). The evolutionary origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be partially traced to a lineage in bats; the closest known relative to SARS-CoV-2 (RaTG13) was found in a bat fecal sample taken from an abandoned mineshaft in Mojiang, China (2, 3). SARS-CoV-2 is proposed to have evolved via an intermediate host between bats and humans, or through natural selection in humans through direct contact with bats (2). Following a WHO-China investigation into the origins of the pandemic, a letter published in Science has poi...
Source: frontiersin.org