Response to S-39 - Bloom — Association between SARS-CoV-2 and metagenomic content of Huanan market samples, arguing Bloom’s correlation analysis ignores spatial/temporal structure in the samples (positives and susceptible-animal DNA cluster at specific stalls, which a market-wide correlation coefficient can dilute), and that his exclusion criteria would, applied consistently, also exclude humans as a plausible host. Agrees the data cannot prove any non-human animal was infected (samples post-date the outbreak’s onset by weeks), but argues Bloom’s method understates the raccoon-dog signal’s real strength. relevance_note: the fullest rebuttal of Bloom’s methodological critique, so a required companion node for weighing that exchange.