Investigation: One of the members of the WHO mission accuses China of hiding data on the origin of the coronavirus
Origin of the virus: the WHO 'errands' to discover the truth in China: the best virus hunters in the world
"Direct zoonotic spill (from animal to human) is considered a possible to probable route; introduction through an
intermediate
host animal
is considered to be a probable or very probable route; introduction through products of the chain food (frozen) is considered a possible route; introduction via a
laboratory incident
was considered an extremely unlikely route. "
Conclusions of the WHO report presented March 30, 2021.
When the world's best virus hunters landed in Wuhan on January 14, there were high expectations for the truths they were to discover at the
epicenter of the pandemic
.
All the attention went to those virologists, epidemiologists, veterinarians and experts in food safety chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) to visit the Huanan market, indicated as a possible
zero zone of contagions
, the maximum security laboratory that studied the
coronavirus bat
, the first interview patients and doctors who first tried the coronavirus ...
The world longed for answers to understand where a pandemic is coming from that has already left
128 million people infected
and killed almost three million.
"All hypotheses remain on the table. We
have not yet found the source of the virus
and we must continue to pay attention," said
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
, director general of the WHO, who has surprised with his critical and unexpected analysis of the report presented. by experts the organization he leads sent to Wuhan, hinting that there has been a lack of access to data from China.
"The report presents a comprehensive review of the available data, suggesting that there was
unrecognized transmission in December 2019
, and possibly earlier. The team reports that the first detected case had an onset of symptoms on December 8, 2019. But To understand the first cases, scientists would benefit from full access to data, including biological samples from at least September 2019, "explained Tedros.
"In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing the raw data. I hope that future collaborative studies will include a
more complete and timely
exchange of data
."
The WHO director also does not agree that the
"extremely unlikely"
hypothesis of a laboratory leak is defined that way.
"I don't think this evaluation was extensive enough. More data and studies will be needed to reach stronger conclusions."
Many unresolved questions appear in the new report that the WHO has written.
The same report that the team of researchers promised to publish in late February.
The delay caused expectations to skyrocket about
potential discoveries
.
As it triggered the accusations of many countries towards China, blaming the Asian country for stopping the disclosure of the full report.
Political battles intruded on science again, as has happened since the first outbreak in Wuhan.
Scientists, on the other hand, have been cautious from the start.
They know that this type of investigation takes, at the very least, many months.
Even years.
The report presented this Tuesday afternoon is 120 pages long and is jointly written by a team of
17 WHO scientists and another of 17 Chinese scientists
.
The discrepancy on a key point in the investigation is striking: the Huanan market.
In separate interviews that the researchers of both teams have given to different media, it can be seen how, by the WHO scientists, they maintain that there is evidence that
live wild animals
were sold in the market
, while the Chinese did. they flatly deny.
The investigation has been surrounded by controversy from the beginning because it has been peppered by the new
Cold War between China and the United States
.
"We have real concerns about the methodology and process that went into that report, including the fact that the Beijing government apparently helped draft it," Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said
in an interview Sunday with CNN.
"Is the United States trying to exert political pressure on WHO experts? China was the first to report the epidemic to the WHO and the first to release key information such as the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus. We will never accept unfounded accusations and the unbridled denigration of the United States, "
Zhao Lijian
, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry
, responded on Monday
.
From Beijing they have hinted in recent weeks that several countries are "pressuring" the WHO in its investigations into the origins of the coronavirus.
In the document presented on Tuesday, the experts rule out, as they had previously done, the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 came out of a laboratory.
"It is extremely unlikely," the report reads.
"Three laboratories in Wuhan that were working with coronavirus had
well-managed
high-quality biosafety levels
, and there were no reports of compatible respiratory illnesses among staff during the previous months. They had also not tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the analysis. blood test to detect antibodies. "
The prevailing theory holds: The virus originated in bats, jumped onto another animal, and mutated in a way that later allowed it to be transmitted from human to human.
The main issue remains to find the intermediate host, the missing link in the chain of infections.
"The closest relative of the virus that causes Covid-19 has been found in bats, which are known to be carriers. But the evolutionary distance between these bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, which suggests a missing link, "reads the report.
To unravel this mystery, all the lights were placed in the
Huanan market
, where the first cases were reported in December 2019. There, in an area of 50,000 square meters, in addition to shellfish and fish, wild animals were also sold.
Both alive and dead, as recognized by the merchants themselves in interviews with local media in early 2020.
Many of the animals came from the farms in the mountain of Huangpi city, 40 kilometers from Wuhan.
Others from farms in the southern provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong, where the virus's closest known relatives, horseshoe bats, originate.
Also, as the new report points out, they can be animals from other Southeast Asian countries.
The report breaks down several tables indicating the
first positive cases detected
related to the market.
In the case of sellers who were infected, the product they were selling is also indicated.
"The findings suggest that the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 preceded the initial detection of cases by several weeks. Some of the suspected positive samples were detected even earlier than the first case in Wuhan, suggesting the possibility of lost circulation in other countries. However, so far, the quality of the studies is limited. However, it is important to investigate these possible early events, "says the paper.
"There could be dozens of
possible host species
that are known to harbor new coronaviruses based on this new virus," he continues.
"The new coronavirus could recombine with others in species where these viruses had already been observed, such as the civet, the horseshoe bat, the
pangolin
, the hedgehog, the rabbit, or the cat."
The WHO researchers insist they have yet to make an
accurate
inventory
of all the creatures sold in the Huanan market, legally or illegally, alive or dead.
Also, the team wants China to carry out widespread testing of its
mink farms
, following the discovery that the virus had spread between mink and humans in Europe.
The Dutch virologist
Marion Koopmans
, a member of the WHO team, who managed to get the Government of the Netherlands to close mink farms in her country after demonstrating transmission, also identified
badgers and rabbits
as animals capable of carrying and spreading the virus.
Another of the experts, zoologist
Peter Daszak
, said in an interview with CNN that badgers were among the
corpses found in freezers
in the Huanan market and that, although they tested negative, they were capable of carrying the virus. , just like rabbits.
The international team has also pointed out that the investigation should cover other countries.
"Especially Southeast Asia, where similar coronaviruses had recently been found, including
Thailand and Cambodia
. I think it is quite possible that an animal has crossed the border," added Daszak, who was the main interlocutor with the team during the writing of the report. of Chinese scientists, co-led by zoologist
Tong Yigang
, a professor at the Peking University of Chemical Technology.
"There were rumors that live animals were being sold on the market, but that is not the case. However, the team did not come to a full agreement on this. The Chinese government had carried out a large-scale animal monitoring program. domestic and wild since the outbreak to see if they contracted the virus before or after the pandemic. We reviewed the results and found no evidence, "said Tong in an interview on Tuesday with the Chinese channel CGTN, contradicting, curiously, the version of his colleagues of the WHO, who affirm that they do have evidence that live animals were sold in the Huanan market.
During the interview, the Chinese expert
diverted the focus from Wuhan
to the possibility that "the virus entered the market through frozen products."
It also focuses on Southeast Asia: "Current scientific evidence shows that some bats and pangolins carry viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 and these virus-carrying bats are reported to be found in Southeast Asian countries, as well as in Yunnan (southern China). Pangolins carrying SARS-CoV-2-related viruses were smuggled from Southeast Asia. There is a possibility that the virus came from there. "
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