【在询问过程中，这6名血清反应阳性的受试者在过去12个月中没有任何回想起任何临床症状，这表明他们的蝙蝠类非典冠状病毒感染要么在采样之前发生，要么是亚临床感染或仅引起轻度症状。(During questioning, none of the 6seropositive subjects could recall any clinical symptoms in the past 12 months,suggesting that their bat SARSr-CoV infection either occurred before the timeof sampling, or that infections were subclinical or caused only mild symptoms.)
这些结果表明，某些类非典冠状病毒可能具有感染人细胞的高潜力，而无需中间宿主。但是，迄今为止，尚无类非典冠状病毒直接从蝙蝠传播给人的证据。(These results indicate that someSARSr-CoVs may have high potential to infect human cells, without the necessityfor an intermediate host. However, to date, no evidence of direct transmissionof SARSr-CoVs from bats to people has been reported.)】
使用先前描述的反向遗传系统构建具有新型蝙蝠类非典冠状病毒刺突基因和类非典冠状病毒WIV1传染性克隆骨架的重组病毒（图9）。用引物重新扩增片段E和F(Recombinant viruses with the S gene of the novel bat SARSr-CoVs and the backbone of the infectious clone of SARSr-CoV WIV1 were constructed using the reverse genetic system described previously [23] (S9 Fig). The fragments E and F were re-amplified with primer pairs)。
然后将两个准备好的刺突DNA片段与E、F和其他片段分别插入人造细菌染色体(BAC)。筛选了正确的传染性BAC克隆。如前所述拯救了嵌合病毒(Then the two prepared spike DNA fragments were separately inserted into BAC with Es,Fs and other fragments. The correct infectious BAC clones were screened. The chimeric viruses were rescued as described previously)。】
结论：
【细胞进入(感染)研究表明，三个新鉴定出的具有不同刺突蛋白序列的类非典冠状病毒都能够使用人ACE2作为受体，进一步显示了该洞穴中的菌株与非典冠状病毒之间的密切关系(Cell entrystudies demonstrated that three newly identified SARSr-CoVs with different Sprotein sequences are all able to use human ACE2 as the receptor, furtherexhibiting the close relationship between strains in this cave and SARS-CoV.)。】
【为了了解这两种新型类非典冠状病毒的进化源头，我们使用蝙蝠类冠状病毒毒株(Rf1，Rp3，Rs672，Rm1，HKU3和BM48-31)的可用基因组序列以及人和果子狸的代表性非典毒株(BJ01，SZ3，Tor2和GZ02)进行了重组分析(To understand the evolutionary origin of these two novel SL-CoV strains, we conducted recombination analysis using available genome sequences of bat SL-CoVs strains (Rf1, Rp3,Rs672, Rm1,HKU3, and BM48-31) and human and civet representative SARS-CoV strains (BJ01,SZ3, Tor2, and GZ02).)。】
结论：
【我们的研究结果提供了迄今为止最有力的证据，表明中国的马蹄蝠是非典冠状病毒的天然病毒库，并且某些蝙蝠的类非典冠状病毒可以不需要中间宿主直接感染人类。它们还凸显针对新兴疾病热点地区高风险野生动物种群的病原体发现规划的重要性，并据此制定防范疫情的战略(Our results provide the strongest evidence to date that Chinese horseshoe bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV, and that intermediate hosts may not be necessary for direct human infection by some bat SL-CoVs. They also highlight the importance of pathogen-discovery programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hot spots as a strategy for pandemic preparedness.)。】
The first case of someone in China suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, can be traced back to November 17, according to government data seen by the South China Morning Post.
Chinese authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were infected last year, all of whom came under medical surveillance at some point.
Some of the cases were likely backdated after health authorities had tested specimens taken from suspected patients.
Interviews with whistle-blowers from the medical community suggest Chinese doctors only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.
Scientists have been trying to map the pattern of the early transmission of Covid-19 since an epidemic was reported in the central China city of Wuhan in January, two months before the outbreak became a global health crisis.
Understanding how the disease spread and determining how undetected and undocumented cases contributed to its transmission will greatly improve their understanding of the size of that threat.
According to the government data seen by the Post, a 55 year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted Covid-19 on November 17.
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From that date onwards, one to five new cases were reported each day. By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 – the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 – and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 60.
On December 27, Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China’s health authorities that the disease was caused by a new coronavirus. By that date, more than 180 people had been infected, though doctors might not have been aware of all of them at the time.
By the final day of 2019, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 266, On the first day of 2020 it stood at 381.
While the government records have not been released to the public, they provide valuable clues about how the disease spread in its early days and the speed of its transmission, as well as how many confirmed cases Beijing has recorded.
Scientists are now keen to identify the so-called patient zero, which could help them to trace the source of the coronavirus, which is generally thought to have jumped to humans from a wild animal, possibly a bat.
Of the first nine cases to be reported in November – four men and five women – none has been confirmed as being “patient zero”. They were all aged between 39 and 79, but it is unknown how many were residents of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei and the epicentre of the outbreak.
It is possible that there were reported cases dating back even earlier than those seen by the Post.
According to the World Health Organisation’s website, the first confirmed Covid-19 case in China was on December 8, but the global body does not track the disease itself but relies on nations to provide such information.
A report published in medical journal The Lancet by Chinese doctors from Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, which treated some of the earliest patients, put the date of the first known infection at December 1.
Dr Ai Fen, the first known whistle-blower, told People magazine in an interview that was later censored, that tests showed that a patient at Wuhan Central Hospital was diagnosed on December 16 as having contracted an unknown coronavirus.
According to government reports, a 55 year-old from Hubei province was the first person to fall sick with Covid-19. Photo: Reuters
Accounts by other doctors seem to suggest the medical community in Wuhan became aware of the disease in late December.
Previous reports said that although doctors in the city collected samples from suspected cases in late December, they could not confirm their findings because they were bogged down by bureaucracy, such as having to get approval from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which could take days. They were also ordered not to disclose any information about the new disease to the public.
As late as January 11, Wuhan’s health authorities were still claiming there were just 41 confirmed cases.
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Josephine Ma
Josephine Ma is China news editor. She has been covering China news for the South China Morning Post for more than 20 years. As a Beijing correspondent, she reported on everything from the Sars outbreak in 2003 to the Lhasa riot and Beijing Olympics in 2008.
By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times - Thursday, March 12, 2020
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday accused the U.S. Army of sending the coronavirus to China, a charge expected to be countered by the Trump administration as disinformation.
Zhao Lijan, spokesperson and deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry information department, made the claim on Twitter, a social media platform banned in China.
Mr. Zhao asked in a tweet when the first patient to contract the disease caused by the virus was detected and how many people were infected.
“What are the names of the hospitals? It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,” he wrote. “Be transparent! Make public your data! U.S. owe us an explanation!”
Mr. Zhao offered no evidence for the claim but the comments followed earlier Chinese government statements suggesting the coronavirus originated outside China.
The Trump administration is planning a high-level response to what it regards as an outrageous propaganda statement designed to fuel anti-American sentiment in China and around the world.
Mr. Zhao, the spokesman, then referred to a group called the Centre for Research on Globalization, that published in Montreal, Canada, an article under the headline “Further evidence that the virus originated in the U.S.”
The Washington Times disclosed last week that a senior Chinese medical official announced that the coronavirus originated outside China, which fueled rumors throughout China and the rest of Asia that the CIA has bioengineered the virus as a weapon.
The CIA denied the disinformation.
White House National Security Robert O’Brien, at a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, called out the Chinese for mishandling the virus outbreak.
“This outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,” Mr. O’Brien said, noting that the coverup delayed a global response by two months.
The origin of the coronavirus remains a mystery. It first surfaced in early December when the first victims developed viral pneumonia and many, but not all, had a link to a wild animal market in Wuhan.
In recent weeks, the Chinese government appears to have backed away from the Wuhan market theory on the origin, and shifted to claiming the virus was introduced into China from abroad.
Wuhan is the location of China sole declared Level-4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The laboratory is engaged in research on deadly coronaviruses and has been linked to China’s covert biological weapons program.
A truly bombshell and unprecedented accusation, underscoring that if Sino-US relations amid the broader crisis weren't already bad enough, they're about to crash much, much lower: China's Foreign Ministry spokesman tweets "it might be the US Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan" — the widely acknowledged epicenter and origin point of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Such shock allegations have recently been swirling in foreign media, especially in Chinese, Iranian and Russian press; however, this is the first time such a high Beijing has leveled the charge — this after President Trump controversially referred to it as a "foreign virus".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks on his official Twitter account Thursday, citing prior televised testimony by CDC Director Robert Redfield to the House Oversight Committee:
Lijian Zhao 赵立坚✔@zlj517
2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!
5,89910:37 AM - Mar 12, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy7,550 people are talking about this
After for months the globe wrangled over "patient zero" and origin points in China, including scrutiny focused on the Chinese state-owned virology lab in Wuhan, which itself happened to be in the ground zero hot zone, it appears Beijing is now aggressively deflecting "blame" for the spread.
"Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" [sic] Lijian demanded.
When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent!
So it appears the official Chinese party line is now that the virus originated in the United States!
The charge appears rooted in the part of Redfield's testimony where he said early Covid-19 cases were mistaken for regular influenza.
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Lijian Zhao 赵立坚✔@zlj517
1/2 CDC Director Robert Redfield admitted some Americans who seemingly died from influenza were tested positive for novel #coronavirus in the posthumous diagnosis, during the House Oversight Committee Wednesday. #COVID19
1,70410:30 AM - Mar 12, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy1,246 people are talking about this
Formerly as deputy chief of mission at China's embassy in Pakistan, Lijian actaully has a history of combative and bombastic statements on Twitter that many in the West have actually compared to Donald Trump's social media style of unfiltered accusations.
It'll be interesting to see if other top officials in Beijing and in the Communist Party double down on this tweets and affirm these "suspicions" and outlandish accusations leveled at Washington.
By World Tribune- China’s state-run propaganda outlets are circulating false stories on the coronavirus situation in the United States in order to take the focus away from the origin of the outbreak and criticism of the communist regime’s handling of it in China, reports say.
Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping. Wikipedia photo
The disinformation campaign is painting the coronavirus in the United States as being more severe than in China. Some propaganda outlets are even claiming that the virus originated in the U.S. — with others going so far as to claim the virus is a CIA bioweapon.
“We clearly see that the coronavirus epidemic in China is very severe, which is totally different from what government authorities claim. Chinese people see for themselves what is happening around them,” Tang said.
U.S.-based China commentator Tang Jingyuan said he believes the regime of Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping is purposefully using the U.S. outbreak to mislead Chinese citizens about the current outbreak within its own borders.
Thus, the Chinese regime hopes to shift people’s focus to the United States as a distraction, Tang said:
“It tries to fool people into thinking the virus is from the United States, and have Chinese people show hatred toward the U.S. Then, they won’t think about what the Beijing regime is doing.”
By emphasizing coronavirus outbreaks outside of China, the communist regime “can tell people that China has a better system,” Tang said.
photo by Aaron Greenwood
The Washington Times first reported in late January that China’s tightly controlled social media was floating rumors that the Wuhan virus was a U.S. biological weapon.
“Thus does China’s propaganda machine showcase and promote a blame-America story, while not quite taking responsibility — since, after all, it is simply filling us in on speculation and rumor,” said Claudia Rosett, a foreign policy fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum.
“In China’s hothouse of state censorship and surveillance, this is a time-tested way to fuel the rumors the [Communist Party] desires to spread, not to stop them,” Rosett wrote in a recent report.
“The CIA does not comment on such outlandish and offensive misinformation,” said CIA Press Secretary Timothy L. Barrett.
The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
On March 4, Xinhua re-published a blog post titled, “With justice on our side, the world should thank China.”
“Now the United States is in turmoil. More and more states have declared a state of emergency, while the whole country is extremely short on medical supply. A coronavirus epidemic is almost inevitable,” the Xinhua post said.
“Most facial masks in the U.S. market are made and imported from China… The majority of medicine in the U.S. is imported from other countries… If China bans exports to the United States, the latter will enter into hell caused by the coronavirus,” the article said.
The article went on to make the claim that the United States and other countries should thank the communist regime in Beijing because China did not ban travel to and from the United States, which “would have damaged the American economy severely, and cause the U.S. stock market to crash.”
On Feb. 24, Chinese propaganda outlet Securities Times published an article based on unverified claims made by Paul Cottrell, who according to his online bio, is a finance PhD based in New York. Cottrell posted a YouTube video claiming that sources told him more than 1,000 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the United States.
As of March 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced 80 infections, excluding Americans who were repatriated from elsewhere and tested positive for the virus.
Using Cottrell’s claims as its basis, the Chinese article claimed that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was hiding the true scale of the U.S. outbreak.
The false claim that the virus originated in the United States began when China’s top virology expert, Zhong Nanshan, said at a press conference on Feb. 27 that there was a possibility the coronavirus did not originate from China.
That same day, a Taiwanese politician named Pan Hwai-tzong said during a television program that aired on the pro-Beijing cable channel EBC News: “The coronavirus is from the United States.” Pan is a councillor from Taipei city, and a professor at the Taiwan National Yang-Ming University.
Chinese state=-run media republished the claim by Pan. Some professors in mainland China have since clarified in media interviews that Pan’s comments have no scientific basis.
Chinese dissident Yang Jianli, president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, said Chinese government is behind the disinformation campaign about the U.S. origin of the pandemic.
“Many in China believe and spread the rumor that the U.S. launched the virus as a biological bomb through the Military World Games, which were held in Wuhan on Oct. 18 to 27,” Yang said in a public letter to Vice President Mike Pence.
“Nobody knows the role of the Chinese government in the origin and spread of this rumor,” Yang said. “The United States, relevant international organizations like WHO and the United Nations, and indeed the entire international community, should have from the onset of this crisis, pressed the Chinese authorities to provide information about the origin of the virus, or at least allow an international investigation on this question.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese regime’s recent official figures have reported a decline in infections, though internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times and eyewitness accounts show that authorities have been under reporting cases.
According to government reports, a 55 year-old from Hubei province was the first person to fall sick with Covid-19. Photo: Reuters
Lijian Zhao 赵立坚✔@zlj517
5,89910:37 AM - Mar 12, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy7,550 people are talking about this
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, file image.
Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping. Wikipedia photo
photo by Aaron Greenwood
