It has been over a year since the start of the pandemic and folks are still debating the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

And of course, there are some folks who still think the virus came from a lab in China.
Where Did SARS-CoV-2 Come from?
Does it matter where the virus came from?
Of course!
“It’s important to understand the origin of the virus for three key reasons. One is if we find the source and if it’s still out there, we can prevent future reintroduction of the same virus into the human population. The second reason is that if we understand how this one jumped from bats origin into humans, we can perhaps prevent similar events in the future. So, to prevent future similar pandemics. And the third reason is that if we can find the virus, what it looked like before it jumped to the human population, we could potentially be in a better position to develop more efficient treatments and vaccines for this disease.”
COVID-19 – Origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
If we don’t identify where these types of viruses come from, then it will be harder to prevent the next pandemic from ever starting.
“Following a month-long fact-finding mission in China, a World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic concluded that the virus probably originated in bats and passed to people through an intermediate animal. But fundamental questions remain about when, where and how SARS-CoV-2 first infected people.”
Where did COVID come from? Five mysteries that remain
Unfortunately, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, there are still a lot of unanswered questions…
“Despite much noise to the contrary, there is no credible evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was ever known to virologists before it emerged in December 2019, and all indications suggest that, like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, this virus probably evolved in a bat host until an unknown spillover event into humans occurred.”
On the origins of SARS-CoV-2
And several theories for the origin of SARS-CoV-2.
“As laboratory manipulation is highly unlikely for the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the current possibilities comprise either natural selection in animal host before zoonotic transfer or natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer.”
Viewpoint: Origin of SARS-CoV-2
But that doesn’t mean you should buy into conspiracy theories that SARS-CoV-2 escaped or leaked out of a lab in Wuhan, China.
“It should be clarified that theories about a hypothetical man-made origin of SARS-CoV-2 have been thoroughly discredited by multiple coronavirus experts. SARS-CoV-2 contains neither the genetic fingerprints of any of the reverse genetics systems that have been used to engineer coronaviruses nor does it contain genetic sequences that would have been “forward engineered” from preexisting viruses, including the genetically closest sarbecoviruses. That is, SARS-CoV-2 is unlike any previously identified coronavirus from which it could have been engineered. Moreover, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain, which has affinity for cells of various mammals, binds to human ACE2 receptors via a novel mechanism.
The Origin of COVID-19 and Why It Matters
Even if one of the people pushing the conspiracy theories is the former director of the CDC.
More on SARS-CoV-2
- COVID-19 Vaccination Questions and Answers
- The Truth About COVID-19 Vaccines
- About Those Urgent COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Warnings
- Who’s Anti-Vaccine Now?
- WHO – COVID-19 – Origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
- WHO – Origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
- The Lancet COVID-19 Commission
- Where did COVID come from? Five mysteries that remain
- 1 report, 4 theories: Scientists mull clues on virus’ origin
- Factbox: The origins of COVID-19
- The Origin of COVID-19 and Why It Matters
- The origin of SARS-CoV-2
- Exploring the natural origins of SARS-CoV-2
- CDC – Possible Bat Origin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
- This biologist helped trace SARS to bats. Now, he’s working to uncover the origins of COVID-19
- Duke experts discuss what we know about the origins of COVID-19
- Exploring the natural origins of SARS-CoV-2
- Viewpoint: Origin of SARS-CoV-2
- The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
- On the origins of SARS-CoV-2
- Are pangolins the intermediate host of the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)?
- No, James Lyons-Weiler did not “break the coronavirus code”
- Nonsense About the Coronavirus Goes Viral
- Going Batty About Coronavirus
- What we know about the source of the coronavirus pandemic
- No, the coronavirus wasn’t made in a lab. A genetic analysis shows it’s from nature
- The twisted, messy hunt for COVID-19’s origin and the lab leak theory
- The conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus, debunked
- “The Discussion Is Basically Over”: Why Scientists Believe the Wuhan-Lab Coronavirus Origin Theory Is Highly Unlikely
- Did COVID-19 escape from a lab?
- What caused the coronavirus? A skeptical take on the theories about the outbreak’s Chinese origin.
- Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here’s what the genetic evidence shows
- The Non-Paranoid Person’s Guide to Viruses Escaping From Labs
- Report Resurrects Baseless Claim that Coronavirus Was Bioengineered
This aged well.