A new report suggests the virus that causes COVID-19 may be linked to raccoon dogs that were illegally being sold at a market in China.
According to the report, researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention uploaded new data from swab samples collected in January 2020 at the market -- including of the floors, walls and cages containing animals -- to the open global genome sequencing databaseFrom there, the international team, which included virologists and biologists, downloaded the samples and analyzed them.
Although this doesn't definitively prove that the virus definitely jumped from raccoon dogs to humans, the team said it is the strongest evidence to date of the natural transmission theory. Members of the research team, who have not yet published their findings, did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.
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