Authorities from the World Health Organization investigating the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wuhan, China say that the novel corona virus originated in bats, but it is extremely unlikely that a virology lab operating in Wuhan allowed the virus to escape into the community. Wuhan Virology Institute was experimenting with a strain of corona virus at the time the virus responsible for the pandemic entered the human population at large. Since Wuhan is not near likely bat habitat, the scientists hypothesize that the bat virus was present in an animal host first. The location for the jump to humans was probably made in the Huanan Seafood Market, an open air market that also sells and processes wild animals. The market, now closed, displayed meat in the open air in close proximity to workers and customers who crowded into narrow allies to purchase food products including civet cats, bamboo rats, rabbits, and pangolins. Some of these animal products can be traced to regional farms that bats inhabit. Possibly the virus infected frozen seafood products since it can survive for long periods in freezing temperatures.
A fact inconsistent with the market infection route is that COVID-19 infections also circulated in clusters beyond the market at the same time, indicating community transmission as early as December 8, 2020, and possibly earlier. Huanan seafood market could have been infected by a person already carrying the virus. Chinese national health authorities did not declare a health emergency until some fifty days later. By that time, the virus has already spread across the country and overseas to neighboring countries. The exact location of the animal resevoir in not yet known, but researchers are focusing on Southeast Asia. Chinese health authorities may be relieved that the search is shifting away from China, which has officially maintained that it was not the source, and has cooperated fully and transparently with international health authorities, a claim disputed by international experts.