Origin of Covid 19

From Encyc

The origin of Covid 19 is currently unknown but there are several theories. Most likely it came from bats and is a zoonotic disease.

Laboratory accident[edit]

Main article: COVID-19 lab leak theory

Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan was studying bat viruses including SARS. At least three of these viruses had a spike protein that helped them attach to human respiratory cells in a similar manner to Covid 19. The laboratory was BSL-4 but the staff may have lacked proper resources and training, as they complained during a US embassy diplomatic visit in 2017.

In this theory, the virus escaped from the lab and the Chinese government may have engaged in coverup. It is a very politically contentious theory, with supporters of Trump more likely to be open to it and supporters of Biden tending to be less convinced.

Food market[edit]

Chinese food market in Wuhan sold live animals for human consumption. These were often kept in open cages stacked one on top of each other. Urine, feces, and other bodily fluids would have been contaminating the animals, their human handlers, and other species of animals they were stacked on top of. Perfect conditions for the introduction of a new zoonotic disease.

Other[edit]

Less likely.

  • Aliens
  • US Army
  • Jews
  • Muslims
  • 5G Phone networks
  • Chinese spies in Canada
  • Population control scheme (England and Bill Gates)

Investigations[edit]

Health authorities in China and abroad have cautioned that origin tracing efforts could take years and the results could be inconclusive.[1]

The World Health Organization described a laboratory leak as the origin of the virus as "extremely unlikely".[2] The WHO investigation confirmed what most experts already expected about the likely origins and early transmission.[3] The US government continues to use its own intelligence to investigate all possibilities.[4]

A number of conspiracy theories have also been promoted about the origins of the virus.[2][5][6]

In April 2020, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison called for an independent international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.[7][8] A few days later, German chancellor Angela Merkel also pressed China for transparency about the origin of the coronavirus, following similar concerns raised by the French president Emmanuel Macron.[9] Britain also expressed support for an investigation, although both France and Britain said the priority at the time was to first fight the virus.[10][11]

In May 2020, the World Health Assembly, which governs the World Health Organization (WHO), passed a motion calling for a "comprehensive, independent and impartial" investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic. A record 137 countries, including China, co-sponsored the motion, giving overwhelming international endorsement to the investigation.[12]

In November 2020, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "We need to know the origin of this virus because it can help us to prevent future outbreaks," adding, "There is nothing to hide. We want to know the origin, and that's it." He also urged countries not to politicize the origin tracing process, saying that would only create barriers to learning the truth.[13]

World Health Organization[edit]

In mid 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) began negotiations with the government of China on conducting an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. In November 2020, the WHO published a two-phase study plan. The purpose of the first phase was to better understand how the virus "might have started circulating in Wuhan", and a second phase involves longer-term studies based on the findings of the first phase.[14]

For the first phase, the WHO formed a team of ten researchers with expertise in virology, public health and animals to conduct investigations.[15] The WHO's phase one investigation team arrived and quarantined in Wuhan, China in January 2021.[16][17]

Members of the investigative team include Thea Fisher, John Watson, Marion Koopmans, Dominic Dwyer, Vladimir Dedkov, Hung Nguyen-Viet, Fabian Leendertz, Peter Daszak, Farag El Moubasher, and Ken Maeda. The team also includes five WHO experts led by Peter Ben Embarek, two Food and Agriculture Organization representatives, and two representatives from the World Organisation for Animal Health.[18] The inclusion of Peter Daszak in the team stirred controversy. Daszak is the head of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that studies spillover events, and has been a longtime collaborator of over 15 years with Shi Zhengli, Wuhan Institute of Virology's director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases.[19][20] While Daszak is highly knowledgeable about Chinese laboratories and the emergence of diseases in the area, his close connection with the WIV was seen as a conflict of interest[by whom?] in the WHO's investigation.[19][21] When a BBC News journalist asked about his relationship with the WIV, Daszak said, "We file our papers, it's all there for everyone to see."[22]

In February 2021, after conducting part of their investigation, the WHO reported that the likely origin of COVID-19 was bats, and that the likely time of transmission to humans was towards the end of 2019. While the WHO investigation's objectives were not about fully determining the origins of the virus, which may take years, it confirmed the existing consensus among experts.[3] The most likely origin remains bats, likely through another animal carrier.[3]

They said a laboratory origin of COVID-19 was "extremely unlikely".[23][24][25] No evidence of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was found, and it is considered extremely unlikely due to the quality of the safety protocols in place.[3]

The WHO also reported that transfer from animals to humans did not occur at the Huanan Seafood Market, since infections were confirmed in the months before the outbreak around the market.[3] Early transmission is also unlikely to have occurred via the "cold chain" of frozen products.[3]

The Lancet[edit]

On 23 November 2020, an international task force led by Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, was formed as part of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, chaired by Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University. The task forced is backed by the medical journal The Lancet.[26] Daszak stated that the task force was formed to "conduct a thorough and rigorous investigation into the origins and early spread of SARS-CoV-2". The task force has twelve members with backgrounds in One Health, outbreak investigation, virology, lab biosecurity and disease ecology.[27] The task force plans to analyze scientific findings and does not plan to visit China.[26]

Chinese government[edit]

The first investigation conducted in China was by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, responding to hospitals reporting cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology, resulting in the closure of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market on 1 January 2020 for sanitation and disinfection.[28] The market was originally suspected of being the source of the virus; however, the Chinese government and the WHO determined later that it was not.[29][30][3]

In April 2020, China imposed restrictions on publishing academic research on the novel coronavirus. Investigations into the origin of the virus would receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by Central Government officials.[31][32] The restrictions do not ban research or publication, including with non-Chinese researchers; Ian Lipkin, a US scientist, has been working with a team of Chinese researchers under the auspices of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a Chinese government agency, to investigate the origin of the virus. Lipkin has long-standing relationships with Chinese officials, including premier Li Keqiang, because of his contributions to rapid testing for SARS in 2003.[33]

The Chinese government has said that COVID-19 may have first been transmitted to Wuhan from abroad, via frozen food imports.[34][35] Scientists from the World Health Organization and other agencies have said there is no evidence for COVID-19 being transmitted through the food chain and that the risks are "negligible".[36][37][38]

United States government[edit]

Trump administration[edit]

On 6 February 2020, the director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy requested the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a meeting of "experts, world class geneticists, coronavirus experts, and evolutionary biologists", to "assess what data, information and samples are needed to address the unknowns, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of COVID-19 and more effectively respond to both the outbreak and any resulting information".[39][40]

In April 2020, it was reported that the US intelligence community was investigating whether the virus came from an accidental leak from a Chinese lab. The hypothesis was one of several possibilities being pursued by the investigators. Trump's US secretary of defense Mark Esper said the results of the investigation were "inconclusive".[41][42] By the end of April 2020, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the US intelligence community believed the coronavirus was not man-made or genetically modified.[43][44]

US officials[who?] previously denounced the WHO investigation as a "Potemkin exercise" and criticised the "terms of reference" allowing Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.[45][46] On 15 January, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that to assist the WHO investigative team's work and ensure a transparent, thorough investigation of COVID-19's origin, the US was sharing new information and urging the WHO to press the Chinese government to address three specific issues, including the illnesses of several researchers inside the WIV in autumn 2019, the WIV's research on "RaTG13" and "gain of function", and the WIV's links to the Chinese military.[47] On 18 January, the US called on China to allow the WHO's expert team to interview "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the city of Wuhan, drawing a rebuke from the Chinese government. Australia also called for the WHO team to have access to "relevant data, information and key locations".[16]

Biden Administration[edit]

On 13 February 2021, the White House said it has "deep concerns" about the both the way the WHO's findings were communicated and the process used to reach them. Mirroring concerns raised by the Trump Administration, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan demanded that the report be independent and "free from alteration by the Chinese Government".[48]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Cadell, Cate (11 December 2020). "One year on, Wuhan market at epicentre of virus outbreak remains barricaded and empty". Reuters. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Horwitz J, Stanway D (9 February 2021). "COVID may have taken 'convoluted path' to Wuhan, WHO team leader says". Reuters.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named APNews20210211
  4. ↑ "Department Press Briefing - 9 February 2021". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  5. ↑ Yates K, Pauls J. "Online claims that Chinese scientists stole coronavirus from Winnipeg lab have 'no factual basis'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 27 January 2020. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "China's rulers see the coronavirus as a chance to tighten their grip". The Economist. 8 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  7. ↑ Worthington, Brett (19 April 2020). "Payne wants transparent probe into coronavirus origins independent of WHO". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  8. ↑ STAYNER, TOM (21 April 2020). "Australia and China clash over independent inquiry into coronavirus pandemic". SBS News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Lau, Stuart; Wong, Catherine (21 April 2020). "Germany adds to growing pressure on China over coronavirus origin". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "UK envoy in Washington backs probe into origins of pandemic, WHO reforms". Reuters. 29 April 2020. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  11. ↑ Needham, Kirsty; Nebehay, Stephanie (21 April 2020). "Australia seeks probe into coronavirus spread, France and UK say now not the time". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  12. ↑ Dziedzic, Stephen (20 May 2020). "Australia started a fight with China by pushing for a COVID-19 inquiry — was it necessary?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "WHO's Tedros says 'Let's not politicize probe of virus origins'". Reuters. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  15. ↑ Mallapaty, Smriti (2 December 2020). "Meet the scientists investigating the origins of the COVID pandemic". Nature. 588 (7837): 208. Bibcode:2020Natur.588..208M. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03402-1. PMID 33262500. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021 – via www.nature.com.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Nebehay, Stephanie (18 January 2021). "U.S. and China clash at WHO over scientific mission in Wuhan". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. ↑ Fujiyama, Emily Wang (28 January 2021). "WHO team in Wuhan departs quarantine for COVID origins study". AP News. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  18. ↑ "Virus origin / Origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus". World Health Organization. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Ryan, Jackson (19 January 2021). "How the hunt for COVID-19's origin became a twisted, confusing mess". CNET. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Chan, Alina; Ridley, Matt (15 January 2021). "The World Needs a Real Investigation Into the Origins of Covid-19". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  21. ↑ Pielke Jr., Roger (19 January 2021). "If Covid-19 Did Start With a Lab Leak, Would We Ever Know?". Wired. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  22. ↑ Sudworth, John (21 December 2020). "Covid: Wuhan scientist would 'welcome' visit probing lab leak theory". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  23. ↑ "Wuhan investigation doesn't dramatically change picture of outbreak, WHO official says". The Guardian. 9 February 2021.
  24. ↑ "Covid: WHO says 'extremely unlikely' virus leaked from lab in China". BBC News. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  25. ↑ Hjelmgaard, Kim. "WHO will end research into 'extremely unlikely' theory that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan lab". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Where did Covid-19 originate? These virus sleuths are assessing every theory". South China Morning Post. 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  27. ↑ Sachs, Jeffrey D.; Karim, Salim Abdool; Aknin, Lara; Allen, Joseph; Brosbøl, Kirsten; Barron, Gabriela Cuevas; Daszak, Peter; Espinosa, María Fernanda; Gaspar, Vitor; Gaviria, Alejandro; Haines, Andy; Hotez, Peter; Koundouri, Phoebe; Bascuñán, Felipe Larraín; Lee, Jong-Koo; Pate, Muhammad; Polman, Paul; Reddy, Srinath; Serageldin, Ismail; Shah, Raj; Thwaites, John; Vike-Freiberga, Vaira; Wang, Chen; Were, Miriam Khamadi; Xue, Lan; Zhu, Min; Bahadur, Chandrika; Bottazzi, Maria Elena; Amor, Yanis Ben; Barredo, Lauren; Caman, Ozge Karadag; Lafortune, Guillaume; Torres, Emma; Ethridge, Ismini; Bartels, Juliana G. E. (10 October 2020). "Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly". The Lancet. 396 (10257): 1102–1124. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31927-9. PMC 7489891. PMID 32941825 – via www.thelancet.com.
  28. ↑ "WHO | Pneumonia of unknown cause – China". WHO. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  29. ↑ Areddy, James T. (2020-05-26). "China Rules Out Animal Market and Lab as Coronavirus Origin". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  30. ↑ Mackenzie, John S; Smith, David W (2020-03-17). "COVID-19: a novel zoonotic disease caused by a coronavirus from China: what we know and what we don't". Microbiology Australia. 41: 45. doi:10.1071/MA20013. ISSN 1324-4272. PMC 7086482. PMID 32226946.
  31. ↑ Gan, Nectar; Hu, Caitlin; Watson, Ivan (12 April 2020). "China imposes restrictions on research into origins of coronavirus". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  32. ↑ Kang, Dake; Cheng, Maria; Mcneil, Sam (30 December 2020). "China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus origins". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  33. ↑ Manson, Katrina; Yu, Sun (26 April 2020). "US and Chinese researchers team up for hunt into Covid origins". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  34. ↑ Stanway, David (26 November 2020). "With frozen food clampdown, China points overseas as source of coronavirus". Retrieved 24 January 2021 – via www.reuters.com.
  35. ↑ Liu, Peipei; Yang, Mengjie; Zhao, Xiang; Guo, Yuanyuan; Wang, Liang; Zhang, Jing; Lei, Wenwen; Han, Weifang; Jiang, Fachun; Liu, William J.; Gao, George F.; Wu, Guizhen (9 December 2020). "Cold-chain transportation in the frozen food industry may have caused a recurrence of COVID-19 cases in destination: Successful isolation of SARS-CoV-2 virus from the imported frozen cod package surface". Biosafety and Health. 2 (4): 199–201. doi:10.1016/j.bsheal.2020.11.003. PMC 7676848. PMID 33235990.
  36. ↑ Siregar, Tuti. "Could frozen food transmit COVID-19?". The Conversation.
  37. ↑ Gunia, Amy (3 November 2020). "COVID-19 on Food Packaging: Why Experts Aren't Worried". Time. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  38. ↑ Cadell, Cate (15 November 2020). "China's sweeping COVID controls put frozen food importers on ice" – via www.reuters.com.
  39. ↑ "OSTP Coronavirus Request to NASEM" (PDF). www.nationalacademies.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  40. ↑ Gittleson, Ben (6 February 2020). "White House asks scientists to investigate origins of coronavirus". ABC News. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  41. ↑ Campbell, Josh; Atwood, Kylie; Perez, Evan (16 April 2020). "US explores possibility that coronavirus spread started in Chinese lab, not a market". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  42. ↑ Dilanian, Ken; Kube, Courtney (16 April 2020). "U.S. intel community examining whether coronavirus emerged accidentally from a Chinese lab". NBC News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  43. ↑ Hosenball, Mark (30 April 2020). "Coronavirus was 'not manmade or genetically modified': U.S. spy agency". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  44. ↑ Singh, Maanvi; Davidson, Helen; Borger, Julian (30 April 2020). "Trump claims to have evidence coronavirus started in Chinese lab but offers no details". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  45. ↑ Tang, Didi (4 January 2021). "Biological weapons lab leaked coronavirus, claims US official". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  46. ↑ Nebehay, Stephanie (10 November 2020). "U.S. denounces terms for WHO-led inquiry into COVID origins". Reuters. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  47. ↑ Pompeo, Michael R. (15 Jan 2021). "Ensuring a Transparent, Thorough Investigation of COVID-19's Origin - United States Department of State". United States Department of State. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  48. ↑ Andrea Shalal (February 13, 2021). "White House cites 'deep concerns' about WHO COVID report, demands early data from China". Reuters. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
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