According to an NBC News report, the head of the WHO team investigating covid19 origin in China said it is “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus leaked from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 first emerged.
The experts placed their bet on animal origin in a report published on Tuesday. The team was on a fact-finding mission which involved visiting Wuhan markets, supply chains, and other sites.
The WHO’s team landed in Wuhan last month, more than a year after Covid-19 was first detected there. The long-awaited visit is part of what will be a lengthy process of piecing together the virus’s origin to answer key questions about the pathogen and how to prevent similar — and possibly worse — future outbreaks.
Team members said they have visited key sites such as the Huanan seafood market, which was linked to an early cluster of infections, as well as the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Last week, a member of the team said the Chinese side granted full access to all sites and personnel they requested — a level of openness that even he hadn’t expected, the Associated Press reported.
Animal Origin Expected
Dr. Peter Ben Embarek from the World Health Organization said it was more likely that the virus, which has now claimed more than 2.3 million lives worldwide, had jumped to humans from an animal.
“Our initial findings suggest that the introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely pathway and one that will require more studies and more specific targeted research,” Embarek said at a press conference.
No Evidence of Lab Origin
The theory that the virus was introduced into the human population as a result of a lab accident did not warrant future study, he added.
There was speculation early on in the pandemic — partially fueled by former President Donald Trump — that the virus was either manufactured at or accidentally leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been involved in coronavirus research. But this theory has been largely dismissed by the global scientific community and Chinese researchers working at the lab.
For more information read our article How the WHO Team Investigated COVID Origin
Possibility of Missed Initial Reports
Speaking alongside Embarek, the head of the Covid-19 panel at China’s National Health Commission and the Chinese lead on the international team of experts, Dr. Liang Wannian, said early data suggested that the coronavirus could have been circulating for weeks before it was identified in Wuhan.
“This indicates the possibility of the missed reported circulation in other regions,“ Liang said, adding that there was no evidence to suggest the virus was spreading in Wuhan before December 2019 — when the first cases of the pneumonia-like illness were reported in the city of some 11 million people.
Bat Origin Suspected
Embarek said ongoing work into the origin of the virus points to bats as a possible natural reservoir for Covid-19, but since Wuhan is not a natural environment for the animal it remains unclear how the virus was introduced into the city.
Beijing has been keen to promote the idea that Wuhan was just the first city to raise the alarm about the new virus and was not responsible for the outbreak. It has previously suggested the virus could have been imported into the country with frozen food products.
Further Investigation on Frozen Products Origin
Both Liang and Embarek said Tuesday transmission of Covid-19 through frozen products was a possibility that requires further research.
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Source: NBC News
