Several months have passed since the first case of novel coronavirus pneumonia was diagnosed, and with a better understanding of the history of the disease, it was widely believed that novel coronavirus pneumonia was linked to the South China Seafood Market in Wuhan. However, according to a new paper in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, the South China Seafood Market is not the birthplace of the new coronavirus! The researchers analyzed the first 41 confirmed cases of neocoronavirus infection admitted to hospitals in Wuhan between Dec. 16, 2019 and Jan. 2, 2020.The earliest of the 41 patients became ill on Dec. 1, and this case did not have a history of exposure to Wuhan’s South China Seafood Market. Meanwhile, 13 of the 41 confirmed cases had no history of exposure to the South China Seafood Market. In other words, the virus had infiltrated into the lives of Wuhan residents before entering the seafood market. In addition, according to the official website of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, researchers collected genomic data from 93 novel coronavirus samples covering 12 countries on four continents (as of February 12), and traced the source of the infection and the path of its spread by analyzing the whole genome data. It was found that the novel coronavirus in the South China seafood market was introduced from other places, and the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus occurred in the market and spread outside the market; and the novel coronavirus underwent two significant population expansions before February 12, which were on December 8 and January 6, respectively. This finding also validates the conclusion that the novel coronavirus did not originate in the South China seafood market. Why did the scientists take the trouble to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus? “Determining whether the South China Seafood Market is the only place of origin is crucial to finding the source of the virus, as well as identifying the intermediate host, for the control of the outbreak and avoiding another outbreak.” The research team said. The epidemic of an infectious disease must go through three links: the source of infection, the means of transmission, and the susceptible population, and the source of infection, as the first link in the epidemic of infectious diseases, is not unimportant. 1, to find the source of infection can lock the infectious disease occurs, so that you can maximize the confidence of epidemic prevention and resistance, to avoid losses. The current epidemic because the beginning did not lock the place of origin, resulting in a large number of people to people, and eventually spread from Wuhan to the world. If we had locked the source of infection at the beginning and blocked the place of occurrence of the virus, we could have reduced the number of infected people and minimized economic losses. 2. Finding the source of infection can confirm the intermediate host and reduce the occurrence of the disease. According to current research, bats are likely to be the infectious source of the novel coronavirus, but how the virus reaches people through bats is not yet clear to us. Some scientists believe that pangolin is an intermediate host of the new coronavirus, and that people become infected with the virus by coming into contact with wild animals or eating wild game. If we find the source of infection and the intermediate host, we can tell people not to contact or eat wild animals, just like what was done in the case of SARS, so as to cut off the spread of the virus from the source. 3, in addition, figure out the source of infectious diseases, infectious diseases are conducive to the pathogenesis and transmission mechanism (pathway) of the study, for example, some viruses are genetic material recombination of the formation of new viruses, if we know the source of infection, staging the habits of the corresponding species, help to speculate on how the new virus recombination. Finding the source of infection is not only important for the subsequent study of the genetic sequence and mode of transmission of viruses, but is also a wake-up call for us. For us ordinary people, not touching wild animals, not consuming wild food, washing hands frequently, ventilating frequently and wearing masks are the best preventive measures. During the special period, we also hope that we can do a good job of disinfection and protection, and together we can cheer for Wuhan.