How was SARS-CoV-2 transmitted to humans? It was in particular to answer this central question that the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an investigation into the origins of the virus in China, where two experts from the organization are expected in the coming hours for an exploratory mission . An initiative welcomed by Washington ... a few days after the announcement of the American withdrawal from the organization.
"We welcome the WHO investigation into the origins of the new coronavirus in China," US ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Andrew Bremberg told reporters. "We regard this scientific investigation as a necessary step to have a full and transparent understanding of how the virus has spread around the world," he added, in an unusually positive statement regarding the WHO.
Over 555,000 dead worldwide
The United States, which officially launched the WHO withdrawal procedure on Tuesday, has vilified the organization since the start of the crisis, accusing it of having been slow to react and above all of having been too complacent with China. , where the virus appeared in late 2019.
Donald Trump had announced in late May "end the relationship" between his country and the WHO, described as "puppet of China". The two WHO experts - an epidemiologist and an animal health specialist - are expected this weekend in Beijing. They must prepare the ground for a broader mission which will determine the origin of the coronavirus responsible for more than 555,000 deaths since the end of December. The US ambassador said he hoped the Chinese authorities would offer scientists "full access to data, samples and localities".
No doubt born in the bat
A WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, told the press on Friday that "one of the biggest questions is whether the virus has been transmitted to humans from any animal, and from which animal it is 'acts ". The vast majority of researchers agree that the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus - the cause of the pandemic - was probably born in the bat, but scientists think it went through another species before being transmitted to humans.
It is this piece of the puzzle that the international scientific community and the WHO hope to discover in order to better understand what happened, to better target risky practices and avoid a new pandemic.
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