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Comment by Scott LaFee

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UC San Diego science and health communications writer
In a pair of related studies, published July 26, 2022 online via First Release in Science, researchers at University of California San Diego, with colleagues on four continents, show that the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 was at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, and resulted from at least two instances of the SARS-CoV-2 virus jumping from live animal hosts to humans working or shopping there.
AI Verified (Jul 26, 2022)
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Scott LaFee, UC San Diego Today, July 26, 2022.
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The clustering of early cases around the Huanan market reflects where the COVID-19 virus emerged, not just where testing looked
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AI Verified Relevant: the quote directly addresses the statement’s core issue by saying the pandemic’s origin was at the Huanan market and that SARS-CoV-2 jumped from live animal hosts to humans there. In context, that makes a stance endorsing market-centered emergence substantially more likely than the alternative that the case clustering only reflected where testing was concentrated. ([today.ucsd.edu](https://today.ucsd.edu/story/coronavirus-jumped-to-humans-at-least-twice-at-market-in-wuhan-china)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
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AI Verified The quote directly says the studies “show that the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 was at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market,” and the article also describes the market as the early epicenter. That strongly implies the clustering of early cases reflects the outbreak’s origin there, not merely where investigators happened to test. The “not just where testing looked” part is an inference, but a strong one from this framing. ([today.ucsd.edu](https://today.ucsd.edu/story/coronavirus-jumped-to-humans-at-least-twice-at-market-in-wuhan-china)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago

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AI Verified The quote appears verbatim in the UC San Diego Today article titled “Coronavirus Jumped to Humans at Least Twice at Market in Wuhan, China.” The page identifies Scott LaFee as the byline and gives the published date as July 26, 2022, so the stored author, date, and source URL are correct. ([today.ucsd.edu](https://today.ucsd.edu/story/coronavirus-jumped-to-humans-at-least-twice-at-market-in-wuhan-china)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
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