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Study Links COVID-19 Origins to Wildlife Trade and Bats

5/8/2025

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Summary

Story summary

A groundbreaking study from UC San Diego uncovers that the COVID-19 virus likely made its leap to humans through the wildlife trade, echoing the SARS outbreak of 2002. Researchers pinpointed its origins to horseshoe bats in Western China or Northern Laos, highlighting how zoonotic spillover ignited its swift spread to Wuhan.

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Story summary

A groundbreaking study from UC San Diego uncovers that the COVID-19 virus likely made its leap to humans through the wildlife trade, echoing the SARS outbreak of 2002. Researchers pinpointed its origins to horseshoe bats in Western China or Northern Laos, highlighting how zoonotic spillover ignited its swift spread to Wuhan.