Fever: The Hunt for Covid's Origin

6. Back to the Market

What really went on in that Wuhan market - and the curious case of the raccoon dog.It’s the early hours of 31 December 2019 and a cleaning squad is moving through the narrow lanes of a large, covered market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The Huanan Seafood Market has been linked to a number of cases of a mysterious new illness circulating in the city, suggesting that animals there might be the source. But the World Health Organization would later say there were no verified reports of live mammals for sale. So what’s the truth about the market? And why have raccoon dogs sparked yet another bitter scientific dispute?Presenter: John Sudworth
Series producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Commissioning editor: Dan Clarke
Science advice: Julian Siddle and Victoria Gill
Extra production: Eva Artesona and Kathy Long
Research support: Zisheng Xu and BBC Monitoring
Production coordinators: Siobhan Reed, Helena Warwick-Cross, Sophie Hill, and Debbie Richford
Theme and original music: Pete Cunningham, with trumpet by Joss Murray
Radio 4 Editor of Editorial Standards: Roger Mahony
Head of BBC News - Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon

Cover-ups, coincidences, and conspiracy theories: where did Covid come from?
 
John Sudworth was the BBC's China correspondent when an unexplained pneumonia started worrying Wuhan doctors in December 2019. Since then, he's been investigating the origin of the virus that would turn into a devastating global pandemic.
 
From the beginning, there have been claims of certainty. Many scientists say the virus that causes Covid came from nature - probably carried from bats to other animals, and then to humans in a Wuhan market. 
 
But an alternative possibility - that it leaked from a laboratory - has refused to go away. And other scientists claim there's uncertainty. For them, the mystery of Covid's origin remains unsolved.
 
So, where did Covid come from? For every one of the millions of lives lost, for every long sufferer, for the pain, the isolation, and the incalculable economic cost, the answer matters. It might also help us prevent another - maybe even worse - pandemic.
 
But it's a debate that's become politicised, toxic, and a bit crazy.
 
Presenter: John Sudworth
Series Producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Richard Vadon
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke