How did coronavirus break out? Theories abound as researchers race to solve genetic detective story

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-scientists-debate-origin-theories-invs/index.html

A vacuum of knowledge about the origins of the new coronavirus ravaging the world has provided fertile ground for all manner of theories -- from the fantastic, to the dubious to the believable.

It was a bioweapon manufactured by the Chinese. The US Army brought the virus to Wuhan. It leaked -- like a genie out of a bottle -- from a lab in an accident. It took root at a wildlife market in Wuhan.

Scientists have banded together across international borders to condemn the nationalist-tinged conspiracy theories. And yet, they are divided on what was once widely thought the most likely culprit: a so-called wet market in Wuhan, where wild animals are kept in cages and sold as pets or food. It is believed that a bat-infected animal -- perhaps a pangolin -- infected the first human.