"
t was a bioweapon manufactured by the Chinese. The
US Army brought the virus to Wuhan. It
leaked -- like a genie out of a bottle -- from a lab in an accident. It took root at a
wildlife market in Wuhan.
Scientists have banded together across international borders to condemn the nationalist-tinged conspiracy theories. And yet, they are divided on what was once widely thought the most likely culprit: a so-called wet market in Wuhan, where wild animals are kept in cages and sold as pets or food. It is believed that a bat-infected animal -- perhaps a pangolin -- infected the first human.
"
"The experts are at odds over the once widely accepted theory that the virus originated at a wet market.
Proponents believe the gory nature of these crowded markets packed with people and wild animals slated for slaughter make them the most likely culprit; the doubters cite a
peer-reviewed study indicating that many of the first known patients had no direct exposure to the so-called wet market."
A vacuum of knowledge about the origins of the new coronavirus ravaging the world has provided fertile ground for all manner of theories -- from the fantastic, to the dubious to the believable.
www.cnn.com