Biologist who saw data linking raccoon dogs to Wuhan opens up on trolls, says 'Being truthful is essential’

A biologist who saw data linking Covid pandemic to raccoon dogs to a Wuhan market in China opened up on online trolls who have labelled her a liar.

Florence Debarre, an evolutionary biologist at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, was pursuing her usual work looking at a virology database "Gisaid" when she found thousands of raw genetic sequences from China in early 2020, the same data which Beijing claimed had no trace of animals.

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In the swab data that she analysed, the biologist found that there was a Latin name for raccoon dog mentioned in the data multiple times.“It was one of the greatest emotions of my life.”

Now, Debarre is besieged by trolling online. “Last night, I was crying over the horrible things I’m reading about myself on social media,” she said, according to a report in The Gaurdian.

“It’s horrible to have people discuss the fact you may be lying, when you’re not lying,” the paper quoted her as saying. “When you have a profession in which being truthful is essential.”

As the world still waits for answers about the true origins of the Covid-19 virus, this non-conclusive report is a major breakthrough.

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The same swabs which Debarre analysed were studied in February 2022 by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC). But at the time, the authority made a claim that there was no evidence in the swabs taken from Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, that could potentially demonstrate that animals are the vectors of the virus.

Shortly after the researchers downloaded the data, it disappeared from Gisaid database. About half a terabyte of genomic data was downloaded from some 50 samples.

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After Gisaid was contacted, they said they never remove the data but contributors have the authority to update the records.China CDC was approached by Debarre and her colleagues, but their request to work on further analysis of the data was dismissed.

WHO has said, “These data could have and should have been shared three years ago."

As per reports, Chinese bamboo rats and raccoon dogs were sold at the Huanan market between May 2017 and November 2019, reported Nature.

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