raccoon dogs

World News

Raccoon dogs may have been linked to the pandemic. What are they?

11:40am March 18, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

The wild animals are more similar to foxes than to domesticated dogs. Data that suggested a link between raccoon dogs and the origins of the COVID pandemic was removed from an international database.

These two photos, taken in 2014 by scientist Eddie Holmes, show raccoon dogs and unknown birds caged in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. GPS coordinates of these images confirm that the animals were housed in the southwest corner of the market, where researchers found evidence of the coronavirus in January 2020.

Health & Safety
Science
World News

WHO calls on China to share data on raccoon dog link to pandemic. Here's what we know

4:11pm March 17, 2023

Data was released briefly, then rescinded. As NPR reported previously, there is already strong evidence pointing to these animals in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.

Security guards stand in front of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 11, 2020, after the market had been closed following an outbreak of COVID-19 there. Two new studies document samples of SARS-CoV-2 from stalls where live animal

Science
Health & Safety

Striking new evidence points to seafood market in Wuhan as pandemic origin point

10:14pm March 03, 2022

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Two studies point to a link between the animals at the seafood market and the spread of SARS-CoV-2 — foreshadowed by photos from 2014 of raccoon dogs and birds. A top virus sleuth gives the details.

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