Tag: Raccoon Dogs

Scientist Revisits Data on Raccoon Dogs and Covid, Stressing the Unknowns

Media Library

A new study of genetic data from a market in Wuhan, China, said the data did not support the case that the pandemic had started with illegally traded animals, touching off fresh debate about samples that other scientists see as critical pieces of the puzzle of how the coronavirus reached humans. The new study, which examined the relative amounts of animal and viral material in swabs taken from surfaces at the market in early 2020, said it was difficult to draw conclusions about whether given samples of the virus had…

WHO Accuses China of Withholding Data on Covid’s Origins

Chin@Strategy

The World Health Organization rebuked Chinese officials on Friday for withholding scientific research that may link the origin of the coronavirus to wild animals called raccoon dogs, asking why the data had not been made available three years ago and why, after it was published online in January, it could not be found now. Before the Chinese data disappeared, an international team of virus experts downloaded and began analyzing the research. They say it supports the idea that the pandemic could have begun when illegally traded raccoon dogs infected humans…

What Are Raccoon Dogs?

Chin@Strategy

On Thursday, scientists unveiled new data on the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic — and put a strange, squat creature squarely in the spotlight. Meet the raccoon dog; it earns its name from its black facial markings, which give the animal a masked appearance and a more-than-passing resemblance to those infamous raiders of urban trash cans. The animals were at least occasionally sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where many virologists suspect that the Covid-19 pandemic may have started. Scientists had previously announced that swabs from the market…