Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Updated : November 30, 2020 9:59 AM IST
A new report by Chinese researchers claims that novel coronavirus originated in India in summer 2019 amid a heatwave that led to a water crisis.
With the growing tension between India and China, the latest report from the Chinese Academy of Sciences pins the blame for coronavirus on India. The deadly virus, SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 6 crore people in the world and accounted for more than 14 lac lives till now.
As the World Health Organisation (WHO) team gears up to investigate the origin of the virus, Chinese researchers come up with a new theory. In a new report entitled 'The Early Cryptic Transmission and Evolution of Sars-Cov-2 in Human Hosts,' they have claimed that the viral disease originated in India in the summer of 2019. They alleged that it transmitted from animals to humans through contaminated water, then travelled unnoticed to Wuhan, where it was first identified.
It was first linked to cases of 'pneumonia of unknown origin' at a seafood market in Wuhan city. WHO also reported that the first case was found in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, it was reported that coronavirus originated in China. However, the scientists argue just because Wuhan is where the virus was first detected, it doesn't mean it is the place of its origin.
In their paper, the Chinese scientists used 'phylogenetic analysis' the study of virus mutation. Virus, like all cells, mutate as they reproduce, meaning tiny changed occur in their DNA each time they replicate themselves. They claim that their method of the investigation rules out the initial claims that the virus found in Wuhan is the 'original' virus. Instead they pin it at eight other countries including Bangladesh, USA, Greece, Australia, India, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia or Serbia.
They also theorize that the second-largest recorded heatwave that rampaged from May to June 2019 in India and Pakistan created a serious water crisis in the region. This would have led to wild animals such as monkey to fight over water among each other, which in turn, would have increased the chance of human-wild animal interactions.
They also speculated that the poor healthcare system and young population, with less severe symptoms, allowed the virus to spread undetected for several months. They further pointed out that coronavirus could have spread to other countries on their list before coming to China.
Despite the claims of the Chinese researchers, many experts rubbished the claims, calling them 'flawed.' David Robertson, a Glasgow University expert, found that the argument made added little to the understanding of the viral disease and it was "inherently biased."
This is not the first time China has pointed fingers at another country. The first target of the blame was Italy, followed by the US and many other countries. The latest in China's list of countries to be blamed for coronavirus is India. This comes against the backdrop of increasing political tensions between the two countries.
