World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on China to share its information on the origins of COVID-19, stressing that without full access to this data, all hypotheses would remain open. Over three years have passed since the virus first appeared, and the WHO chief emphasized the importance of China's cooperation in determining the origins of the virus.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "Without full access to the information that China has, you cannot say this or that," and added, "All hypotheses are on the table. That's WHO's position and that's why we have been asking China to be cooperative on this." He further noted that knowing how the virus began would be possible if China cooperated.
COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and many believe it spread from a live animal market before escalating into a global pandemic that has claimed nearly 7 million lives. Last month, Chinese scientists briefly uploaded data from the early days of the pandemic to an international database.
The data contained genetic sequences from over 1,000 environmental and animal samples collected at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market in January 2020, the site of the first known COVID outbreak. According to an international team of researchers, the data revealed that DNA from multiple animal species, including raccoon dogs, was present in environmental samples testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID. This suggested that these animals were "the most likely conduits" for the disease.
However, a non-peer-reviewed study published this week by Nature journal saw scientists from China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention challenge the international team's conclusions. The Chinese scientists argued that the samples did not prove the animals were infected, and since the samples were collected a month after the market's first human-to-human transmission, it was possible that the animals had contracted the virus from humans.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, stated that the latest Chinese information provided "clues" but no definitive answers on the virus's origins. The WHO is collaborating with scientists to learn more about the initial cases from 2019, including the locations of those infected. Kerkhove also noted that it was still unclear whether the required research had been conducted in China.
Additionally, the WHO has requested original data from the United States related to a recent study by the U.S. Energy Department, which suggested that a laboratory leak in China likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
