The Atlantic claims the Raccoon dog story is the best one yet

Eddie, Michael, Kristian, and Angie Rasmussen said so. Until the bought and paid "virologists" are chucked out of the fold, they can be toted out as needed to push whatever propaganda is desired

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/covid-origins-research-raccoon-dogs-wuhan-market-lab-leak/673390/

Without a paywall: https://archive.is/wO7wt

Hat tip to Ranger71.

For three years now, the debate over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic has ping-ponged between two big ideas: that SARS-CoV-2 spilled into human populations directly from a wild-animal source, and that the pathogen leaked from a lab. Through a swirl of data obfuscation by Chinese authorities and politicalization within the United States, and rampant speculation from all corners of the world, many scientists have stood by (no, have johnnie-come-lately admitted to) the notion that this outbreak—like most others—had purely natural roots. But that hypothesis has been missing a key piece of proof: genetic evidence from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, showing that the virus had infected creatures for sale there.

This week, an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary biologists may have finally found crucial data to help fill that knowledge gap. A new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the venue could have been carrying and possibly shedding the virus at the end of 2019. It’s some of the strongest support yet, experts told me, that the pandemic began when SARS-CoV-2 hopped from animals into humans, rather than in an accident among scientists experimenting with viruses.

The rest is behind a paywall.

But hahaha—the Atlantic mixed up its headlines. Someone working there knows the score. See how its next story is titled:

And from the inimitable Kevin Barrett:

Raccoon Dog Blamed for COVID Pandemic Identified, Arrested