Palabras clave
sars-cov-2
coronavirus
politics
pandemia
origen del virus
salud pública
desinformación
Cómo citar
Resumen
En diciembre de 2019, un brote de neumonía en Wuhan constituiría el epicentro de la pandemia de COVID-19. A pesar de que se identificó un nuevo coronavirus, similar al virus de SARS que produjo una epidemia en 2002, surgieron dos hipótesis sobre su origen: el mercado de animales vivos de Wuhan y la fuga de un virus del Instituto de Virología de Wuhan (IVW). La mayoría de los científicos expertos respalda la hipótesis del origen natural del virus y su propagación a partir del mercado de animales vivos, pero ciertos grupos políticos en Estados Unidos impulsaron la teoría del escape de un virus del Instituto de Virología de Wuhan y debilitaron la confianza en las comunicaciones científicas. Una consecuencia de la desconfianza en la actividad científica fue la oposición a las medidas sanitarias como la vacunación, el uso de mascarillas, el distanciamiento social, junto con el creciente escepticismo de la actividad científica. Estas dinámicas generan consecuencias graves en salud pública y en las posibilidades de vigilancia de futuros virus
Referencias
Hegarty, S. (6, February 2020). The Chinese doctor who tried to warn others about coronavirus. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382
Xu, R. H., He, J. F., Evans, M. R., Peng, G. W., Field, H. E., Yu, D. W., Lee, C. K., Luo, H. M., Lin, W. S., Lin, P., Li, L. H., Liang, W. J., Lin, J. Y., & Schnur, A. (2004). Epidemiologic clues to SARS origin in China. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10(6), 1030–1037. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1006.030852
Standaert, M. (25, February 2020). Coronavirus closures reveal vast scale of China’s secretive wildlife farm industry. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/25/coronavirus-closures-reveal-vast-scale-of-chinas-secretive-wildlife-farm-industry
Crits-Christoph, A., Levy, J. I., Pekar, J. E., Goldstein, S. A., Singh, R., Hensel, Z., Gangavarapu, K., Rogers, M. B., Moshiri, N., Garry, R. F., Holmes, E. C., Koopmans, M. P. G., Lemey, P., Peacock, T. P., Popescu, S., Rambaut, A., Robertson, D. L., Suchard, M. A., Wertheim, J. O., … & Débarre, F. (2024). Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cell, 187(19), 5468–5482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.09.020
Mallapaty, S. (2024). Wuhan lab samples hold no close relatives to the virus behind COVID. Nature, 636(8043), 531–532. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03982-2
Hu, B., Zeng, L. P., Yang, X. L., Ge, X. Y., Zhang, W., Li, B., Xie, J. Z., Shen, X. R., Zhang, Y. Z., Wang, N., Luo, D. S., Zheng, X. S., Wang, M. N., Daszak, P., Wang, L. F., Cui, J., & Shi, Z. L. (2017). Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus. PLoS Pathogens, 13(11), e1006698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006698
Mallapaty, S. (2025). What sparked the COVID pandemic? Mounting evidence points to raccoon dogs. Nature, 639(8053), 14–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00426-3
Worobey, M., Levy, J. I., Malpica Serrano, L., Crits-Christoph, A., Pekar, J. E., Goldstein, S. A., Rasmussen, A. L., Kraemer, M. U. G., Newman, C., Koopmans, M. P. G., Suchard, M. A., Wertheim, J. O., Lemey, P., Robertson, D. L., Garry, R. F., Holmes, E. C., Rambaut, A., & Andersen, K. G. (2022). The Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Science, 377(6609), 951–959. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8715
Cortez, M. F. (2021, June 27). The last—and only—foreign scientist in the Wuhan lab speaks out. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-06-27/did-covid-come-from-a-lab-scientist-at-wuhan-institute-speaks-out
Menachery, V. D., Yount, B. L., Jr., Debbink, K., Agnihothram, S., Gralinski, L. E., Plante, J. A., Graham, R. L., Scobey, T., Ge, X. Y., Donaldson, E. F., Randell, S. H., Lanzavecchia, A., Marasco, W. A., Shi, Z. L., & Baric, R. S. (2015). A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence. Nature Medicine, 21(12), 1508–1513. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3985
Vilches, T. N., Moghadas, S. M., Sah, P., Fitzpatrick, M. C., Shoukat, A., Pandey, A., & Galvani, A. P. (2022). Estimating COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths following the US vaccination campaigns during the pandemic. JAMA Network Open, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42725
O’Grady, C. (2022, September 15). In the line of fire: Scientists have been harassed for years. But a Science survey shows the pandemic has made things far worse for some. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/overwhelmed-hate-covid-19-scientists-face-avalanche-abuse-survey-shows
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Enserink, M. (2024, March 20). Virologists and epidemiologists back natural origin for COVID-19, survey suggests. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests
Poonia, G. (2024, April 17). 7 out of 10 American voters think COVID-19 came from a lab. Deseret News. https://www.deseret.com/politics/2024/04/17/what-are-the-origins-of-covid-19/
Nava, V. (2025, January 18). HHS bans EcoHealth Alliance and group’s ex-prez from receiving federal funding for 5 years after Wuhan virus experiments. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2025/01/18/us-news/hhs-bans-ecohealth-alliance-and-groups-ex-prez-from-receiving-federal-funding-for-5-years-after-wuhan-virus-experiments/
Temmam, S., Vongphayloth, K., Baquero, E., Munier, S., Bonomi, M., Regnault, B., Douangboubpha, B., Karami, Y., Chrétien, D., Sanamxay, D., Xayaphet, V., Paphaphanh, P., Lacoste, V., Somlor, S., Lakeomany, K., Phommavanh, N., Pérot, P., Dehan, O., Amara, F., …, &+ Eloit, M. (2022). Bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2 and infectious for human cells. Nature, 604(7905), 330–336. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04532-4
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.
Derechos de autor 2025 Gabriel Trueba