Disentangling SARS-CoV-2 related viruses

When SARS-CoV-2 broke out there were just two published sequences from its clade, despite 15 years of intensive sampling for bat coronaviruses. While sharing some distinguishing features, these viruses (ZC45/ZXC21) published by a group of PLA epidemiologists in March 2018, were too evolutionarily distant to be direct precursors. On January 20^th, 2020, with the outbreak out of control, Chinese authorities belatedly acknowledged the virus could transmit between humans. Only then were more sequences published, though it is clear these had been known much earlier. As debate raged over a possible artificial origin, more sequences were published conveniently addressing specific points of contention. The provenance of many of these are questionable. Most groups (even foreign) publishing SARS-CoV-2 related sequences have close links to China’s military and/or WIV,  although this isn’t always disclosed or obvious. This analysis of evolutionary dynamics highlights inconsistencies between sequences that are difficult to explain using a conventional model of viral evolution. Some scientists have proposed a unique “mosaic” evolution,  driven by exceptionally frequent recombination. However, this is still insufficient to explain all anomalies. Another possibility that must be considered is that there has been an extensive effort to “inhibit attribution”. This likely involved the fabrication of sequence data and/or deliberate contamination of samples with synthetic RNA. Concerningly there is evidence these efforts began even before the outbreak, implying premeditation.