Scientists say Covid-19 may not have originated in Wuhan as commonly thought (Picture: Getty Images)

The coronavirus outbreak could have began in mid-September, British scientists studying the diseases mutations have claimed.

They also believe it may not have started in the Chinese city of Wuhan as is widely believed. Researchers from the University of Cambridge are trying to trace the origins of the deadly disease by mapping its genetic history to patient zero.

So far they have mapped out its journey from China, to Australia, Europe then the rest of the world. The scientists have found three distinct but related variants of the bug more prevalent in different parts of the world.

Having created a network using over 1,000 coronavirus genomes, researchers believe the pandemic kicked off some time between September 13 and December 7. Team leader Dr Peter Forster says finding out where the virus really originated is crucial to stop a future pandemic, Newsweek reports.


Researchers have identified three distinct but related variants of the disease

Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Type A of coronavirus is believed to be the original human virus genome and the closest to the type of Covid-19 found in bats. It has been found in Chinese and American patients but it is not China’s most common variant.



The People’s Republic along with Britain and Europe has mostly been hit with type B – the variant found most often in Wuhan, Hubei Province which was in circulation as early as Christmas Eve.

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But about 500 miles away in Guandong province, seven of 11 samples found in patients were found to be variant A, casting doubt on the origin of the outbreak.

Dr Forster says the theory that coronavirus originated at a seafood market in Wuhan is looking increasingly unlikely. A study in the Lancet showed some of the first patients had never been there.

Type A is considered to be closest variant of coronavirus to the one found in bats and pangolins

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was built in co-operation with French bio-industrial firm Institut Merieux and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Researchers say type C mutated from an offshoot or ‘daughter’ of type B and spread to Europe and Australia via Singapore.

It was found in Hong Kong but did not appear to infect mainland China.

It is thought Covid-19, officially named SARS-CoV-2, is in a constant process of evolution to overpower people’s immune systems in different parts of the world.

Dr Forster accepts his estimate of when the outbreak started could be wrong.

He added: ‘This assumes a constant mutation rate, which is admittedly unlikely to be the case, and the time estimate could therefore be wrong.

‘But it is the best assumption we can make at the moment, pending analysis of further patient samples stored in hospitals during 2019.’

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