In viral games, refs go to the replay

After more than 2 years of intensive investigation, the direct ancestors of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) remain unidentified. Molecular epidemiology strongly supports a timeline marked by multiple, independent zoonoses in late 2019 (Pekar et al , 2022) solid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EMBO reports 2023-04, Vol.24 (4), p.e56992-n/a
Main Author: Rochman, Nash D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
EMBO14
EMBO23
Epidemiology
Humans
Life Sciences
News & Views
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Views
Viral diseases
Viruses - genetics
Zoonoses
Zoonoses - epidemiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:After more than 2 years of intensive investigation, the direct ancestors of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) remain unidentified. Molecular epidemiology strongly supports a timeline marked by multiple, independent zoonoses in late 2019 (Pekar et al , 2022) solidifying the consensus hypothesis that close relatives of SARS‐CoV‐2 with high zoonotic potential were naturally circulating prior to the start of the pandemic (Andersen et al , 2020). Understanding where and when these ancestors acquired the genomic features that resulted in a virus with epidemic potential could enable the identification and mitigation of future pandemic viruses, even before the first human infection. Graphical Abstract The direct ancestors of SARS‐CoV‐2 still remain unidentified. A study in this issue now investigates the clinical, epidemiological, and evolutionary features of a bat sarbecovirus, a close relative of SARS‐CoV‐2, shedding light on the origin of COVID‐19.
ISSN:1469-221X
1469-3178
DOI:10.15252/embr.202356992