Geneva (AFP)

The boss of the WHO said Friday that "all the hypotheses remain on the table" to explain the origin of the pandemic after a one-month mission of experts appointed by the organization in China.

Experts appeared to rule out the possibility that the virus may have escaped the city's virology institute, as the Trump administration claimed, at their press conference in Wuhan on Monday at the end of their mission. .

They raised a "highly improbable" hypothesis.

"Some people have wondered whether certain hypotheses (on the origin of the pandemic, Editor's note) had been abandoned and after having discussed with the members of the team I wish to confirm that all the hypotheses remain on the table", Chief Executive Officer Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the bi-weekly pandemic press conference.

"It has been a very important scientific exercise under very difficult circumstances," said Dr Tedros.

He said he "hoped" that a preliminary report on the mission could be released next week and the final report "in the weeks to come".

The first conclusions presented at a press conference by experts in China were greeted at least with caution and even skepticism, particularly in the United States.

- "Many successes" -

Present at the press conference in Geneva, Peter Embarek, who led the team of scientists from different countries and different disciplines, said the investigation "had met with many successes".

“We have a better understanding of what happened in December 2019,” in Wuhan, he said, while stressing that it “is just the beginning”.

The mission was only able to visit China in January, just over a year after the start of an epidemic that has since claimed 2.3 million lives and brought the global economy to its knees. China seems very reluctant to let these specialists come.

"It would have been difficult to go there sooner," Embarek said, noting that a preparatory mission went to China last summer and then it was necessary to bring together both international and Chinese experts and plan. visit.

"It was not the type of mission where you trace an animal in the market, or a patient, where you look for this type of evidence," he explained.

"If we had done an investigation of this type in the field, in search of the first animals (carriers of the virus Editor's note), the first patients, it is something that could have been done perhaps in December when the epidemic has been detected, "he added.

He stressed that the first instinct in these cases is to "treat the patients, understand the disease, find the cases, and not try to understand how it happened".

"But maybe this is something that will have to be studied in the future to know how to better respond to epidemics of new diseases," he acknowledged.

© 2021 AFP