Well resolved
Naturally, there was no talk of that behaviour in Andersen's parallel 2016 paper a few months later with Holmes and Rambaut, titled The evolution of the Ebola virus: Insights ...
In this evolution story:
It is believed that bats serve as the primary reservoir for EBOV. .. (T)he origin and spread of the 2013–2016 EVD epidemic seem well resolved.
appears - probably - seems - believed
In fact, Baize's paper reports the first confirmed case was in a Health worker at Gueckedou hospital, Guinea on Feb 23. It speculates about a chain of 12 unconfirmed but suspected cases, going back 83 days, to the bat tree on Dec 2 - that may have lead to the first confirmed case but notes the epidemiologic links are not well established. Including how the health worker (who was the take-off case) contracted the disease.
The above amounts to academic skulduggery by Holmes, Andersen, Rambaut. The very paper they cite to say the Dec 2 Meliandou origin is well resolved - says it's not well established - a fact they acknowledged in a 2014 paper writing: The current outbreak started in February 2014 in Guinea.
So why has that been airbrushed out in the 2016 paper? You could say well, we had more information - but there wasn't - it's based on the same paper. With a radically different interpretation.
Baize's not well established theory, in turn, is based on what he calls initial epidemiologic investigation that he doesn't cite but it appears to be a Fabian Leendertz expedition.
That sounds exciting - scientist bug-hunters on an expedition. Let's go exploring with Fabian in West Africa ...
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