It’s one of the worst pandemics in history, and now scientists believe they may know how the coronavirus was spread to humans.
The virus is believed to have originated in bats, before being passed to humans via an intermediate animal. While previous studies suggested that this animal was a pangolin, a Canadian team now claims that a different animal is responsible for passing the virus to humans.
Researchers from the University of Ottawa claim that coronavirus was actually spread to humans by dogs. Lead author Professor Xuhua Xia suggests a scenario in which "the coronavirus first spread from bats to stray dogs eating bat meat." The specific origins of Covid-19 are "of vital interest in the current world health crisis," he said.