O-50 - Across market samples SARS-CoV-2 abundance correlates most with fish and livestock mtDNA (bass, catfish, cow, carp, snakehead) and negatively with raccoon dog and bamboo rat
Bloom aligned reads from 176 environmental samples to the SARS-CoV-2 genome and a panel of chordate mitochondrial genomes, then correlated per-sample SARS-CoV-2 read counts against each species’ mtDNA read counts. The virus tracks fish/livestock/human material (species handled or deposited by people throughout the market) at least as strongly as any susceptible mammal, and shows a negative association with raccoon dog and hoary bamboo rat. The ranking is analysis-choice-sensitive (excluding the first sampling timepoint makes Oriental rat snake most-correlated; linear vs log scale and non-zero-only subsets shift the ordering), but raccoon dog stays negative. Same China-CDC market set (D-1) that S-35 analyses toward the opposite emphasis.
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Why this is evidence
The virus tracking fish/livestock/human-handled material and negatively associated with raccoon dog is the pattern of human deposition (H-15), against a raccoon-dog wildlife source (H-14).