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Covid-19: Italian study raices suspicions about the birthplace of the virus

A new study by the Italian National Cancer Institute revealed data that can counter the origin of the virus in Wuhan.

WHO had previously admitted that the virus could have circulated silently around the world until it was detected in Wuhan. Now, with the new study by the Italian National Cancer Institute, suspicions are growing.

Thursday at a conference organized by the American publisher Cell Press and the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the former chief of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zeng Zuan, cited the Italian study. According to the Institute’s findings, in the blood samples of lung cancer patients in Italy, since September 2019, antibodies to Sars-Cov-2 (official name of the coronavirus) have been found. Covid-19’s first case was detected on November 17, 2019 in Wuhan.

“Wuhan was where the coronavirus was first detected, but it was not in Wuhan that it was born”, defended Zuan, referring to the Italian study.

Last week the current head of the Chinese CDC, Wu Zunyou, also suggested that the virus may have come to China through the import of frozen seafood and meat.

In Milan the opinion differs. The scientists who carried out the study that has been running a lot of ink argue that the results do not conclude that the origin of the coronavirus was in Italy. Giovanni Apolone, the scientific director of the Italian National Cancer Institute and co-author of the study believes that the Institute’s findings simply reveal that “the epidemic in China was not detected in time”.

The World Health Organization has created a team determined to investigate the origins of the new coronavirus. The mission began about a month ago, and involves the collaboration of Chinese scientists.

Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian stressed that the country will continue to be part of global efforts to trace the source of the virus and “work with the rest of the international community to fight Covid-19 and other viruses”.

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