WHO recommends further investigation into coronavirus leak theory
The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins on Novel Pathogens (SAGO), which was established by WHO in 2021, announced the need to continue to investigate the theory of the laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2 – as reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the group’s report
SAGO includes 27 researchers from different countries, including Great Britain, Germany, China, and Russia.
The report highlights that the epidemiological and genetic sequencing data indicate the ancestral strains to the pandemic virus had a zoonotic origin, noting similarity to bat coronavirus samples in China in 2013 and Laos in 2020. However, the panel cautioned, ‘so far neither the virus progenitors nor the natural/intermediate hosts or spillover event to humans have been identified’.
The preliminary investigation confirmed that a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan played an important role in the spread of the pandemic. However, the source of SARS-CoV-2 and the mechanism by which it enters the market is still unclear, experts point out. “SAGO notes that there has not been any new data made available to evaluate the laboratory as a pathway for the outbreak, further investigations are needed into this and all other possible pathways,” reads the report.
SAGO acknowledged that three members of the team, from China, Russia and Brazil, had objected to including the recommendation.
Meanwhile, monkeypox is spreading across the planet. More than 1,000 cases of the disease have been reported in countries that are not endemic for monkeypox, according to the WHO. The organisation also warned that a person can be re-infected.
