Researchers from the World Health Organization in China continue to investigate how the SARS CoV-2 virus made the jump from animals to humans, focusing in on ferret badgers and rabbits, not bats as was originally thought, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Previous research found that a close relative of the SARS CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, was found in bats, but the variant was not the one that infected humans.  Epidemiologists have found a closer relative in ferret badgers and rabbits, common protein sources in Asian markets, particularly in the Wuhan region.

Researchers are quick to point out that they have not yet identified the vector of the virus and how it was transferred to humans.  While it could have been through the ingestion of meat, it is also just as likely that humans came in contact with the virus through fecal matter, widening the possible locations where the first human might have contracted the virus. 

The markets of Wuhan have live and slaughtered animals including rabbits, ferret badgers and bats.  But the area also has tours of caves where millions of bats live, and all three creatures in the wild.

Peter Daszak, a zoologist with the WHO, noted that the specific strain of the SARS CoV-2 virus is more common in rabbits and badgers, but the samples taken from Wuhan markets have all tested negative.  Still, he said, “It provides a pathway for how the virus could have gotten into Wuhan.”

Complicating the research is the fact that the Chinese government shut down the market in Wuhan where the first cluster of coronavirus was found.  The market was cleared and disinfected, with any animals destroyed and discarded.