Sick Chinese lab staff sparks debate over virus origin

WASHINGTON.- Three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (IVW) fell ill in November 2019 and required hospitalization, according to a previously secret US intelligence report. which could support the growing claims of further investigation into the possibility that the coronavirus causing Covid-19 escaped from this laboratory.

The details of the report go beyond the fact sheet presented by the State Department in the final days of the Trump administration, where it was recorded that several researchers from the IVW laboratory – a center for the study of coronaviruses and other pathogens – fell ill in November 2019 “With symptoms compatible with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses.”

The release of the number of researchers who fell ill, when they fell ill and their hospital visits comes on the eve of a meeting of the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO ), where the next phase of an investigation into the origins of Covid-19 is likely to be discussed.

Current and former US officials familiar with the intelligence report express different views on the strength of the evidence to support a similar charge. An official said the information came from an international ally and was potentially important, but needed further investigation and further corroboration.

Another official gave the report more credibility. “They have provided us with exquisite quality information from a variety of sources. Everything was very precise. What this information does not reveal is exactly what they got sick of, ”he said.

November 2019 is the approximate date that many epidemiologists and virologists point out that the SARS-CoV-2 virus began circulating in the city of Wuhan, in central China., as the Beijing government insists the first confirmed case was a man who fell ill on December 8, 2019.

The IVW has not shared any raw data, safety records, or laboratory records on its extensive work on the coronavirus in bats, which for many is the most likely source of the virus.

China has always denied that the virus escaped from one of its laboratories. The day before yesterday, the Foreign Office cited the report of the WHO-led team that visited the IVW in February and concluded that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely”. “The United States continues to promote the theory of laboratory leaks,” he said in response to a request from The Wall Street Journal. “Do they really want to find the source or are they trying to divert attention?”

The Biden administration declined to comment on the intelligence report, but said all technically plausible theories about the origin of the pandemic should be investigated by the WHO and international experts. “There are lingering doubts about the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, including its origins in the People’s Republic of China,” a spokeswoman for the National Security Council said.

Among those in doubt is Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and White House adviser on Covid. When asked yesterday if the virus was of natural origin, Fauci replied, “I’m not convinced, I think we should find out what happened in China. True, those investigating argue that the emergency arose from an animal that has already infected individuals, but it could have been something else and we need to find out. That is why I am completely in favor of an investigation ”.

Beijing has also re-established that the virus may well have originated outside of China, including in a laboratory at the Fort Detrick military base in Maryland, and has asked the WHO to investigate the first outbreaks of Covid. In other countries.

Shi Zhengli, IVW’s foremost bat coronavirus expert, reiterated that the virus had not escaped her labs. The scientist told the WHO-led team that all staff at the institute have tested negative for Covid-19 antibodies and that there has been no staff turnover within the team. coronavirus.

Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who is part of this team in Wuhan, told the network in March NBC News that some IVW staff fell ill in the fall of 2019, but attributed it to common seasonal illnesses.

It’s common in China for people to go straight to the hospital when they get sick, either because they get better care there or because they don’t have access to a general practitioner. Covid-19 and the common flu, although very different illnesses, share some of the same symptoms, such as fever, body aches, and cough. Still, it might be relevant that members of the same team working with the coronavirus ended up in hospital with similar symptoms shortly before the pandemic broke out.

As the laboratory leak hypothesis is taken increasingly seriously, the debate continues to be tinged with political tensions, including the amount of evidence that would be needed to support this hypothesis..

The State Department fact sheet released in the last days of the Trump administration, based on confidential information, stated that “the United States government has reason to believe that in the fall of 2019, before the first identified case of the pandemic epidemic, several IVW researchers fell ill with symptoms compatible with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses. “

The January 15 newsletter added that this fact “raises doubts about the credibility of Dr Shi” and criticized Beijing for “its deception and disinformation”, while acknowledging that the United States government has failed. not been able to pinpoint the exact origin of the pandemic. .

The Biden administration has not disputed any of the report’s claims. The document also describes the investigative activities carried out at the IVW, its alleged cooperation with certain Chinese military projects and accidents at other laboratories in China.

Although the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed on December 8, 2019, several analyzes of the virus’s mutation rate concluded that it had likely started spreading several weeks earlier.

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal