Pandemic: US intelligence agencies disagree over the origin of the coronavirus

After several months of examination, the US secret services are still divided on the origin of the corona virus.

Whether the virus came from a laboratory or jumped from an animal to humans is open, it said in a report published on Friday.

Both are "plausible hypotheses".

"We come to the conclusion that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon," it said.

There is also consensus that the Chinese authorities had no knowledge of the virus before the first Covid-19 outbreak.

Several secret services suspect that the coronavirus was transmitted from animals to humans - but with low security.

A member of the secret service apparatus spoke out with "moderate confidence" that the origin of the virus could be related to a laboratory incident.

Other members of the secret services, however, could not rule out either of the two theories.

No concrete answer possible

If no further information was provided, a more precise conclusion would not be possible, the paper said.

Above all, you need the support of China for this.

"However, Beijing continues to obstruct the global investigation, refuse to share information and blame other countries, including the United States."

US President Joe Biden hired American intelligence services to investigate the origin of the corona pandemic in May. At the time, he had instructed them to submit a further report on this within 90 days. In a first report, the secret services had already come to different assessments. "The world deserves answers, and I won't rest until we get them," responded Biden to the latest report. Therefore, China will continue to be urged to provide relevant information. "Responsible nations do not shy away from this kind of responsibility to the rest of the world," said Biden.

For a long time, unsubstantiated suspicions have been circulating that the coronavirus could have come from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan and may have been released in a laboratory accident. The Chinese have so far vehemently denied such allegations. The corona virus first appeared in Wuhan.