No definitive proof has yet been found of the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. Five years after the first reported infections in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the two main theories "remain on the table." This phrase, first used in 2021 by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), is still relevant today. On Monday, December 30, the UN agency once again urged China to share its data.

It remains unclear whether the virus originated from an accident in a Wuhan virology laboratory, or whether it arrived in the city via the illegal trade of infected wild animals sold at the Huanan market, located in the heart of this metropolitan area of 14 million inhabitants –the so-called zoonotic hypothesis.

On social media, and sometimes even at scientific conferences, interactions between proponents of both theories are marked by a rare hostility, while the silent majority of the academic world seems to reserve judgment. For many of the virologists, epidemiologists and environmentalists interviewed, the available evidence is insufficient to reach a conclusion. Moreover, China's lack of transparency often leads them to believe that the origin of the virus will remain uncertain as long as the current regime remains in power.

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