Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been speculation that the virus arose as a result of a laboratory leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, which collected and handled bat viruses. Many prominent scientists continued to dispute the lab leak theory, arguing that a natural diffusion is a more likely explanation. However, the new report said there were “a number of anomalies” in how Covid-19 occurs naturally compared to other communicable diseases such as Sars and Mers. Within six months of the Sars outbreak in 2002, scientists had discovered the species behind the outbreak, but despite extensive research, a candidate for Covid-19 was never found. “Nearly three years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, critical evidence is lacking to demonstrate that Sars-CoV-2 emerged and the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic was caused by a natural spread of zoonotic agents,” the report said. The committee also said it was unusual that Covid-19 had spread to humans only once or twice in a two-week period and had only appeared in Wuhan or nearby areas.
It is not clear how the virus traveled
In other dispersal events, the jump between species occurred multiple times and in different locations. The bats that carry the closest virus to Covid-19 live in southern China or Southeast Asia, so it’s unclear how the virus traveled more than 1,000 miles to reach Wuhan, the report said. However, the WIV had collected more than 220 Sars-related coronaviruses, at least 100 of which were never made public. Staff were photographed wearing inadequate levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) while delivering bats. There is also evidence that WIV scientists were involved in advanced coronavirus research designed to predict and prevent future pandemics by collecting, characterizing and experimenting with “high-risk” coronaviruses. WIV also submitted a proposal in 2018 seeking funding to engineer coronaviruses to increase their ability to infect human cells. The panel also said it was “remarkable” that early variants of Covid-19 were already well adapted for human-to-human transmission. Senior coronavirus researcher Shi Zhengli from WIV admitted that the team infected humanized mice with a chimeric Sars-related coronavirus, but never published the results. The report’s authors said the theory that the virus occurred naturally “no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt” and said a laboratory leak was more plausible.
“The result of an investigation-related incident”
They said: “One case related to the investigation is consistent with early epidemiology showing rapid spread of the virus in Wuhan, with the first calls for help being near WIV’s original campus in central Wuhan. “In short, human error, mechanical damage, animal bites, animal escapes, insufficient training, insufficient funding and pressure for results can lead to the escape of infectious pathogens, which could, in turn, infect animals and humans and lead to the release of a virus from a laboratory. “Based on … publicly available information, it seems reasonable to conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic was, most likely, the result of a research-related incident … the hypothesis of a natural zoonotic origin no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.” The new report comes just a week after scientists claimed to have found evidence that Covid-19 was manufactured in a lab. Professor Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Institute of Genetics, said it was “the strongest evidence to date against a simple scenario of a strictly zoonotic origin of Sars-CoV-2”.
