Information AgeMedicine & Health
COVID-19 pandemic
2020Turning pointContested
A coronavirus spreads worldwide, killing millions and reshaping work, schooling and politics.
Contested history
Consensus: SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. How it first infected people remains unresolved.
Natural spillover from animals, likely at the Huanan marketDebated by scholars
Many virologists favor this, citing early case clusters and market samples.
A research-related accident in WuhanDebated by scholars
The FBI, Department of Energy and, in 2025, the CIA lean toward this with low to moderate confidence.
A deliberately engineered bioweaponUnsupported
U.S. intelligence agencies assessed this as unlikely.
Community notes
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