Animal trans-species transmission is the most likely origin of COVID-19 based on current scientific data, said a recent article in the U.S. science journal, the Cell.

Scientists have added more depth and diversity to the understanding of the viral origins of SARS-CoV-2, sequencing 411 bat samples from a small region in China's Yunnan collected between 2019 and 2020, leading to 24 full-length coronavirus genomes, said the article titled "The continuing search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2."

Evolution, environment, and humanity are critical factors in disease emergence. Referring to the origins of the disease, about which the world is desperate for answers, it said based on everything we know, bats, more specifically the Horseshoe bats somewhere in Southeast Asia, are most likely the source as bats naturally harbor CoV.