The real origin of SARS-CoV-2: does it really matter?

SARS-CoV-2 has likely originated from a bat coronavirus, probably BatCoV-RaTG13, which has been transmitted to another intermediate animal, maybe a pangolin, where the ancestral virus has undergone primary intra-animal recombination. This new virus (e.g., 2019 GX/GD Pangolin) was likely then transmitted to the first human index case, where it then became the SARS-CoV-2 that originated in the first local outbreak. Failure to timely recognize the first diffusion of the virus within a likely circumscribed human niche has enabled further intra-human recombination processes, which then finally generated the highly virulent pathogen that is causing the ongoing pandemic outbreak. This theory is inherently supported by data showing that the virus has circulated at lower virulence much earlier before its first identification in Wuhan. For example, evidence from environmental monitoring suggests that the virus started to circulate in Italy as early as December 2019, while the much larger outbreak was only recorded 2–3 months later.