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Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic - PubMed

  • ️Fri Sep 19 2025

Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic

Alexander Crits-Christoph et al. Cell. 2024.

Abstract

Zoonotic spillovers of viruses have occurred through the animal trade worldwide. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was traced epidemiologically to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Here, we analyze environmental qPCR and sequencing data collected in the Huanan market in early 2020. We demonstrate that market-linked severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic diversity is consistent with market emergence and find increased SARS-CoV-2 positivity near and within a wildlife stall. We identify wildlife DNA in all SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from this stall, including species such as civets, bamboo rats, and raccoon dogs, previously identified as possible intermediate hosts. We also detect animal viruses that infect raccoon dogs, civets, and bamboo rats. Combining metagenomic and phylogenetic approaches, we recover genotypes of market animals and compare them with those from farms and other markets. This analysis provides the genetic basis for a shortlist of potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 to prioritize for serological and viral sampling.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; forensic genomics; metatranscriptomics; phylodynamics; phylogenetics; viral emergence; virus evolution; wildlife trade.

Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests J.O.W. and N.M. receive funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through contracts to J.O.W.’s institution unrelated to this research. M.A.S. receives contracts from the US Food & Drug Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, and Janssen Research & Development, all outside the scope of this work. R.F.G. is a cofounder of Zalgen Labs, a biotechnology company developing countermeasures for emerging viruses. A.C.-C. is an employee of Cultivarium, a nonprofit organization studying environmental microbes, unrelated to the scope of this work. M.W., A.L.R., J.E.P., A.R., M.A.S., E.C.H., S.A.G., J.O.W., and K.G.A. have received consulting fees and/or provided compensated expert testimony on SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic. M.P.G.K. was involved in the WHO-convened SARS-CoV-2 origins mission.

Update of

  • Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Crits-Christoph A, Levy JI, Pekar JE, Goldstein SA, Singh R, Hensel Z, Gangavarapu K, Rogers MB, Moshiri N, Garry RF, Holmes EC, Koopmans MPG, Lemey P, Popescu S, Rambaut A, Robertson DL, Suchard MA, Wertheim JO, Rasmussen AL, Andersen KG, Worobey M, Débarre F. Crits-Christoph A, et al. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Sep 14:2023.09.13.557637. doi: 10.1101/2023.09.13.557637. bioRxiv. 2023. PMID: 37745602 Free PMC article. Updated. Preprint.

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