It is likely that the virus will be transmitted to humans via an intermediate animal

"World Health" excludes the hypothesis of a "Corona" leak from a Chinese laboratory

A security guard stands in front of a shop in the Huanan Seafood Market after the discovery of the Corona virus in Wuhan.

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A joint report by WHO experts and other Chinese experts suggested that the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) had transmitted to humans through an intermediate animal to which the infection was transmitted from a bat, ruling out the hypothesis that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

The publication of the long-awaited joint report and its conclusions were not surprising, 15 months after the first cases of "Covid-19" appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December 2019, and since that time the pandemic has caused more than 2.7 million deaths.

The report, which Agence France-Presse obtained a copy of, and if it did not solve the mystery of the origin of the new Corona virus (Covid-19), it stressed the need for other investigations that include a wider geographical area in China and abroad, and it is considered that the hypothesis of transmission of the virus to humans via an intermediate animal Probable to very likely, ”in exchange for“ complete exclusion ”of the hypothesis that the virus was leaked from a laboratory as a result of an accident.

The experts' report confirms the preliminary conclusions they made on February 9 in the Chinese city where the virus first appeared.

Experts favor the general theory of the natural transmission of the virus from its animal source, which is most likely bats, to humans through an intermediate animal that has not yet been identified, and the report considered that the hypothesis of direct transmission from the source animal (or reservoir) to humans is possible to likely, and the experts did not rule out the theory of transmission via Frozen meat, a theory suggested by Beijing, considering that this scenario is possible.

The report recommended continuing studies on the basis of these three hypotheses, and on the other hand ruled out the possibility that the virus was transmitted to humans as a result of an accident in a laboratory.

The administration of former US President Donald Trump had accused the Wuhan Virus Institute, which is conducting research on dangerous pathogens, of causing the virus to leak, intentionally or unintentionally.

In the report, the experts indicated that they did not study the premise of intentional leakage, and considered that leakage due to a laboratory accident is completely unlikely.

In their report, the experts concluded that supply chain studies of Huanan Market (and other Wuhan markets) did not lead to finding evidence of infected animals, but supply chain analysis provided useful information for subsequent studies with specific objectives, especially in neighboring areas.

Experts called for animal source products not to be neglected from regions outside Southeast Asia, and they recommended that investigations be carried out in wider regions and in a greater number of countries.

The World Health Organization stressed the need for patience in order to reach answers to the questions raised.

For his part, the Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, considered yesterday that the hypotheses about the origin of the "Covid-19" pandemic remain open and need further study, after reviewing the report of international experts to investigate the origin of the Corona virus.

"All assumptions are open, given what I read in the report," Ghebreyesus said during a hypothetical press conference from Geneva. "This requires full research and more studies."

On the other hand, Ghebreyesus warned of the consequences of the widening gap between the numbers of anti-corona virus vaccines that are being offered in rich countries, and those being distributed to poor countries through the Kovacs mechanism.

The warning came after the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, criticized what he described as the "unfair distribution" of vaccines in the world, calling on the rich countries that store huge quantities of these vaccines to share part of them with the rest of the world to eliminate the pandemic.

The outcome of vaccination against "Covid-19" exceeded half a billion doses worldwide, according to an AFP count.

High-income countries accounted for more than half of the doses used (54%), even though they account for only 16% of the world's population.

The Kovacs mechanism ensures that vaccines reach 92 countries in the world, with the cost covered by donors.

The plan aims to distribute sufficient doses to vaccinate up to 27% of the population of these countries by the end of the year.

The mechanism was supposed to provide about 238 million doses by the end of next May, but so far it has provided only 32 million doses, according to its website.

• The experts ’report stresses the need for additional investigations that cover a wider geographical area, in China and abroad.

• Supply chain studies of Wuhan markets did not find evidence of infected animals.

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