Wow, a curiously similar case of “frozen evolution” of an RNA virus to the 2021 Ebola outbreak: a 2015 outbreak of the bluetongue virus in livestock caused by a strain “frozen” since 2008.
Demonstrating admirable intellectual honesty, the authors (@davidandthebees et al.) suggest that accidental release is the most plausible hypothesis right in the title: “Frozen evolution” of an RNA virus suggests accidental release as a potential cause of arbovirus re-emergence”.
a bit OT but still a good look into the responses to covid that did so much harm
https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/the-greatest-lie-told-during-covid
I take issue with the authors taking the liberty of giving the benefit of the doubt on the term “accidental.” In today’s world, profits far outweigh morals. The two biggest outside suppliers of beef to Europe (particularly N. Europe) are Brazil and Argentina. If either of those countries wished to increase their GNP significantly one way would be to introduce such a virus into Europe’s domestic cattle.
I might add that Brazil, in particular, is quite cozy with China as we found out this past week on a currency deal that would submarine the US dollar.