Raccoon Dogs in China Market Linked to COVID-19 Pandemic
The World Health Organization is urging China to release data that may show a link between animals and the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was briefly posted on an international database but then taken down. The information appears to show that genetic material from raccoon dogs and the virus that causes COVID were found in the same swabs, implying that the animals may have been an initial host. The WHO is calling on Chinese officials to release all of the data they have around the potential origins of COVID.