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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
WHO says probe into COVID-19 virus origin still ongoing
(Reuters) -The World Health Organization said on Friday that efforts to determine the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, are still ongoing and incomplete. The WHO Scientific Advisory Group reported progress in understanding COVID-19's origins but noted that critical information required to fully assess all hypotheses remains unavailable. The agency said it had requested China share hundreds of genetic sequences from COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic, detailed information on animals sold at Wuhan markets, and details on research and biosafety conditions at Wuhan laboratories. WHO added that China has not yet shared the information. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
COVID-19 origin still ‘inconclusive' after years-long WHO study
The World Health Organization (WHO) says efforts to uncover the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic are still ongoing and incomplete, as critical information has 'not been provided'. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 'all hypotheses must remain on the table' to determine the cause of the virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, after an expert group investigating its origins reached an unsatisfying conclusion in its final report released on Friday. 'We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly, in the interests of protecting the world from future pandemics,' Tedros said. The global pandemic, which began in 2020, killed millions worldwide, with countries enforcing lockdowns in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. With the first cases detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, information from the country is seen as key to preventing future pandemics. In 2021, Tedros launched the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a panel of 27 independent international experts. Marietjie Venter, the group's chair, said on Friday that most scientific data supports the hypothesis that the new coronavirus jumped to humans from animals. But she added that after more than three years of work, SAGO was unable to get the necessary data to evaluate whether or not COVID was the result of a lab accident, despite repeated requests for detailed information made to the Chinese government. 'Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded,' she said, however adding, 'It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.' Venter also said there was no evidence to prove that COVID had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. In 2021, a group of experts from the WHO first travelled to Wuhan to examine the origins of the virus with their Chinese counterparts. By March of that year, their joint report found that the most likely hypothesis was from bats to humans via an intermediate animal. They said at the time that a lab leak was 'extremely unlikely'. However, that investigation faced backlash for lacking transparency and access, and not taking the lab-leak theory seriously. After that, SAGO was launched. According to the SAGO report, 'the weight of available evidence … suggests zoonotic [a disease spread between animals to humans] spillover … either directly from bats or through an intermediate host'. 'Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive,' Venter said. 'Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it sparked a pandemic is needed to help prevent future pandemics, save lives and livelihoods, and reduce global suffering,' she added. Tedros said it was a 'moral imperative' to determine how COVID began, noting that the virus killed at least 20 million people, wiped at least $10tn from the global economy and upended the lives of billions.
Malay Mail
8 hours ago
- Health
- Malay Mail
Spillover from animals or lab leak? WHO says Covid-19 origins still unknown as lack of data hampers four-year investigation
GENEVA, June 28 — All hypotheses on how the Covid-19 pandemic began remain open, the World Health Organization said yesterday, following an inconclusive four-year investigation that was hamstrung by crucial information being withheld. The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the WHO, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people's lives upside-down. The first cases were detected in Wuhan in China in late 2019, and understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid came from is key to preventing future pandemics. However, a lengthy investigation launched by the UN's health agency said that pending further data, the origin of Covid and how it first spread remains elusive. 'As things stand, all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and lab leak,' WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference, referring to the two main hypotheses as to how the pandemic began. Expert investigation An initial WHO-Chinese joint report in March 2021 concluded that the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal. It deemed a leak from Wuhan's virology laboratories — known for their research on coronaviruses — to be 'extremely unlikely'. However, that investigation faced harsh criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not seriously evaluating the lab-leak theory. Tedros launched another investigation, setting up the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), comprising 27 international experts, in July 2021. Their 78-page report was published on Friday. It said the weight of available evidence suggests a spillover from animals — either directly from bats, or through an intermediate host. However, it could not conclude with certainty where and when this happened, nor whether the Wuhan wet market was where the virus first spilled over into humans. That said, the market 'appears to be the location for amplification of infection in humans', leading to widespread transmission. 'Evidence for widespread infections or cases in any other countries prior to December 2019 is lacking,' it added. While spillover was the best supported theory on the evidence currently available, 'until further requests for information are met, or more scientific data becomes available, the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it entered the human population will remain inconclusive,' SAGO chair Marietjie Venter said at the press conference. Lab leak theories 'could not be investigated or excluded', she said, because much of the needed information had not been made available. The experts requested unpublished information from other countries, notably Germany and the United States, but without success, she said. Earlier this week, one SAGO member resigned and three others asked for their names to be removed from the report. 'Crucial question' 'Over the past five years, we have learned a lot about Covid-19 but there is one crucial question about the pandemic that we have not yet answered: how it started,' Tedros said. 'Despite our repeated requests, China hasn't provided hundreds of viral sequences from individuals with Covid-19 early in the pandemic, more detailed information on animals sold at markets in Wuhan, and information on work done and biosafety conditions at laboratories in Wuhan,' he said. He said WHO has requested access to intelligence reports by governments around the world on the origins of Covid-19. US President Donald Trump's administration has officially embraced the lab leak theory. Moral imperative Tedros said finding out how Covid-19 started was a moral imperative for those who lost their lives in the pandemic and to prevent further outbreaks. He said the virus was continuing to evolve, take lives and leave people suffering with post-Covid conditions, or so-called long Covid. Tedros said the WHO is appealing to countries with information about the origins of Covid-19 to share information. SAGO said it would continue to evaluate any new, sound scientific evidence and update its findings accordingly. — AFP
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
COVID-19 origin still ‘inconclusive' after years-long WHO study
The World Health Organization (WHO) says efforts to uncover the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic are still ongoing and incomplete, as critical information has 'not been provided'. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 'all hypotheses must remain on the table' to determine the cause of the virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, after an expert group investigating its origins reached an unsatisfying conclusion in its final report released on Friday. 'We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly, in the interests of protecting the world from future pandemics,' Tedros said. The global pandemic, which began in 2020, killed millions worldwide, with countries enforcing lockdowns in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. With the first cases detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, information from the country is seen as key to preventing future pandemics. In 2021, Tedros launched the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a panel of 27 independent international experts. Marietjie Venter, the group's chair, said on Friday that most scientific data supports the hypothesis that the new coronavirus jumped to humans from animals. But she added that after more than three years of work, SAGO was unable to get the necessary data to evaluate whether or not COVID was the result of a lab accident, despite repeated requests for detailed information made to the Chinese government. 'Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded,' she said, however adding, 'It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.' Venter also said there was no evidence to prove that COVID had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. 'Remains inconclusive' In 2021, a group of experts from the WHO first travelled to Wuhan to examine the origins of the virus with their Chinese counterparts. By March of that year, their joint report found that the most likely hypothesis was from bats to humans via an intermediate animal. They said at the time that a lab leak was 'extremely unlikely'. However, that investigation faced backlash for lacking transparency and access, and not taking the lab-leak theory seriously. After that, SAGO was launched. According to the SAGO report, 'the weight of available evidence … suggests zoonotic [a disease spread between animals to humans] spillover … either directly from bats or through an intermediate host'. 'Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive,' Venter said. 'Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it sparked a pandemic is needed to help prevent future pandemics, save lives and livelihoods, and reduce global suffering,' she added. Tedros said it was a 'moral imperative' to determine how COVID began, noting that the virus killed at least 20 million people, wiped at least $10tn from the global economy and upended the lives of billions.
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
World Health Organization is STILL siding with China over Covid's origins as report rules out lab leak
A group of experts investigating Covid origins on behalf of the World Health Organization revealed they still aren't sure how the pandemic began. At a press briefing Friday, chair of the group Marietjie Venter said most data supports the idea that Covid jumped to humans from animals. It's the same conclusion the WHO drew in 2021, when scientists said the virus likely spread from bats to human through another 'intermediary animal.' Venter said that after three years of investigating, the WHO group was unable to get necessary data to determine if Covid was the result of a lab leak, despite hundreds of requests for genetic sequences and biosecurity information to the Chinese government. She said: 'Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded. It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.' She said there was no evidence to prove that Covid had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. Venter claims the 27-member group did not reach a firm consensus on Covid's origins, as one member resigned earlier this week and three others asked for their names to be removed from the report. She said: 'Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive.' The report comes after US authorities said earlier this month they had 'seized' Dr Anthony Fauci's old phone in search of answers about Covid's origin. FBI boss Kash Patel told Joe Rogan: 'We found it [the devices], and at least we can tell the American people we've been looking because it is of public importance to figure out, did that guy lie? 'Did he intentionally mislead the world and cause countless deaths?' The FBI and CIA have both asserted they think Covid most likely originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, which was conducting risky experiments on coronaviruses in the years leading up to the pandemic. Some of those experiments were funded by US taxpayer money through grants awarded by Dr Fauci's old department, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was a 'moral imperative' to determine how Covid began, noting that the virus killed at least 20 million people worldwide, wiped at least $10trillion from the global economy and upended the lives of billions. Last year, the AP found that the Chinese government froze meaningful domestic and international efforts to trace the virus' origins in the first weeks of the outbreak in 2020 and that WHO itself may have missed early opportunities to investigate how Covid began. President Donald Trump has long blamed the emergence of the coronavirus on a laboratory accident in China, while a U.S. intelligence analysis found there was insufficient evidence to prove the theory. Chinese officials have repeatedly dismissed the idea that the pandemic could have started in a lab, saying that the search for its origins should be conducted in other countries. Last September, researchers zeroed in on a short list of animals they think might have spread COVID-19 to humans, including racoon dogs, civet cats and bamboo rats. The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) carried out a secret investigation into the origins of Covid nicknamed Project Saaremaa during the pandemic, sharing the findings with the US in December 2024. Investigators found unpublished dissertations from 2019 and 2020 that allegedly discussed the effects of coronaviruses on the human body. Additionally, uncovered materials revealed Chinese scientists had 'an unusually large amount of knowledge about the supposedly novel virus available at an unusually early stage.' Based on the materials BND agents found and analyzed, they used a 'Probability Index' to measure the reliability of information, which determined the lab-leak theory was 'probable' with an '80 to 95 percent' certainty. Robert Redfield, former CDC director when the pandemic erupted, also accused American and British health agencies of shutting down concerns over potential lab leaks. He previously told he is '100 percent' convinced Covid was the result of scientists becoming infected while carrying out high-risk experiments to boost the infectivity of bat viruses amid low biosecurity in Wuhan labs.
