French scientist who discovered that animals susceptible to coronavirus were present at Wuhan market now receives personal threats on social media

"I’m not living the best days of my life right now,” Florence Débarre says. "But being truthful is essential." The day after she published her findings, the relevant data had been made inaccessible, apparently at the request of the Chinese researchers who include the top virologist George Gao, a former director general of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. “We were shocked,” says Débarre. “But not surprised.”

The next step will be to investigate the illegal supply chains that brought the animals to the Wuhan market during winter 2019 and see whether they might lead closer to the virus’s original reservoir.