Canada supports USA investigation into origins of COVID-19

CTV News shows that Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says the federal government supports the U.S. investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

There are several ongoing efforts by scientists, governments, international organisations, and others to determine the origin of SARS-CoV-2 (virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic). The scientific consensus seems to be that the virus is most likely of zoonotic origin in a natural setting, from bats or another closely-related mammal.

Infectious disease can be such a type. A zoonosis (plural zoonoses, or zoonotic diseases) is an infectious disease caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from an animal (usually a vertebrate) to a human.

SARS-CoV-2 has close genetic similarity to multiple previously identified bat coronaviruses, suggesting it may have crossed over into humans from bats. Research is ongoing as to whether SARS-CoV-2 came directly from bats or indirectly through any intermediate hosts. Initial genome sequences of the virus showed little genetic diversity, although subsequently a number of stable variants emerged (some spreading more vigorously), indicating that the spillover event introducing SARS-CoV-2 to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019.