Purported quantitative support for multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into humans is an artefact of an imbalanced hypothesis testing framework

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: McCowan, Angus
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author McCowan, Angus
author_facet McCowan, Angus
contents A prominent report claimed substantial support for two introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into humans using a calculation that combined phylodynamic inferences and epidemic models. Inspection of the calculation identifies an imbalance in the hypothesis testing framework that confounds this result; the single-introduction model was tested against more stringent conditions than the two-introduction model. Here, I show that when the two-introduction model is tested against the same conditions, the support disappears.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_20076
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Purported quantitative support for multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into humans is an artefact of an imbalanced hypothesis testing framework
McCowan, Angus
Quantitative Methods
A prominent report claimed substantial support for two introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into humans using a calculation that combined phylodynamic inferences and epidemic models. Inspection of the calculation identifies an imbalance in the hypothesis testing framework that confounds this result; the single-introduction model was tested against more stringent conditions than the two-introduction model. Here, I show that when the two-introduction model is tested against the same conditions, the support disappears.
title Purported quantitative support for multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into humans is an artefact of an imbalanced hypothesis testing framework
topic Quantitative Methods
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.20076