Wuhan market played role in coronavirus disease, earliest patient found on December 8, China expert team leader says

The earliest coronavirus disease patient was detected on December 8, 2019, and the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan in central Hubei province played a role in the occurrence and development of the coronavirus diesease epidemic, the Chinese head of   the WHO-China joint expert team has told state media.

“To be specific, the onset date of the earliest case was set at December 8, 2019. Disease surveillance and early case search did not find any earlier cases than that one,'' said  Liang Wannian, who leads the Chinese side of the WHO-China joint expert team.

“Second, the Huanan seafood market played a role in the occurrence and development of the epidemic, and played an important role in the detection of the epidemic.

“Third, the virus is of natural origin. The most likely transmission route was from the natural host to the intermediate host, and then to humans. Fourth, cold chain transmission, a new mode of transmission, plays an important part in the origin and transmission of the epidemic. Fifth, it is extremely unlikely that the outbreak was caused by a laboratory leak.''

Liang made the comments to Chinese communist daily the Global Times. He was speaking ahead of the  WHO's  joint report  due next week.

While the earliest patient was detected on December 8, it was at 4:13pm on December 31, 2019 that state media Xinhua reported that “27 pneumonia cases in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province have been identified as viral pneumonia.''

Exotic, live wild animals were sold in the Wuhan market, which was shut down in January 2020.

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said the patients, including seven in serious condition, reported symptoms including fever and difficulty breathing. All the patients have been put in quarantined treatment, Xinhua reported.

Two patients have seen improvement in conditions and will be soon discharged, the commission said in a statement.

The tests on the exact pathogens and the search for the cause of the infections are still underway, the statement said.

The commission said all cases were found to be related to a seafood market, and there were no clear signs of human-to-human transmission, Xinhua reported.

On January 31, this year, a World Health Organization team looking into the origins of the coronavirus disease pandemic visited the Huanan Seafood Market for about an hour in the afternoon.