ReutersConfirmed
10,847,304
Deaths
155,158
WUHAN: The WHO mission to China to uncover the origins of the coronavirus has failed to identify the animal source, scientists said Tuesday.
Experts believe the disease -- which has gone on to kill more than 2.3 million people worldwide -- originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal.
While transmission from animals was the likely route, so far "the reservoir hosts remain to be identified", Liang Wannian, head of the China team, told reporters.
He added that studies showed the virus "can be carried long-distance on cold chain products," appearing to nudge towards the possible importation of the virus -- a theory that has abounded in China in recent months.
He also said there was "no indication" the sickness was in circulation in Wuhan before December 2019 when the first official cases have been recorded.
WHO foreign expert Ben Embarak, who was based in the WHO's Beijing office for two years from 2009, backed up the assertion saying there was no evidence of "large outbreaks in Wuhan" before then.
The mission is a diplomatically knotty one, which was trailed before it began by fears of a whitewash, with the US demanding a "robust" probe and China firing back with a warning not to "politicise" the investigation.
During the closely-monitored visit, reporters were largely kept at arms' length from the experts, but snippets of their findings crept out over Twitter and interviews.
The experts spent one month in China, two weeks in quarantine and the same again on fieldwork.
But, already over a year after the virus emerged, some of it was of questionable relevance to their stated aim of finding the virus source, including a visit to a propaganda exhibition celebrating China's recovery from the pandemic.
The group spent just an hour at the seafood market where many of the first reported clusters of infections emerged over a year ago.
They also appeared to spend several days inside their hotel, receiving visits from various Chinese officials without going out into the city.
But deeper research was carried out at the Wuhan virology institute where they spent nearly four hours and said they met with Chinese scientists there including Shi Zhengli, one of China's leading experts on bat coronaviruses and deputy director of the Wuhan lab.
Former US president Donald Trump repeated a controversial theory that a lab leak may have been the source of the pandemic.
Scientists at the laboratory conduct research on some of the world's most dangerous diseases, including strains of bat coronaviruses similar to Covid-19.
Beijing is desperate to defang criticism of its handling of the chaotic early stages of the outbreak.
It has refocused attention at home -- and abroad -- on its handling of, and recovery from the outbreak.
Experts believe the disease -- which has gone on to kill more than 2.3 million people worldwide -- originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal.
While transmission from animals was the likely route, so far "the reservoir hosts remain to be identified", Liang Wannian, head of the China team, told reporters.
He added that studies showed the virus "can be carried long-distance on cold chain products," appearing to nudge towards the possible importation of the virus -- a theory that has abounded in China in recent months.
He also said there was "no indication" the sickness was in circulation in Wuhan before December 2019 when the first official cases have been recorded.
WHO foreign expert Ben Embarak, who was based in the WHO's Beijing office for two years from 2009, backed up the assertion saying there was no evidence of "large outbreaks in Wuhan" before then.
The mission is a diplomatically knotty one, which was trailed before it began by fears of a whitewash, with the US demanding a "robust" probe and China firing back with a warning not to "politicise" the investigation.
During the closely-monitored visit, reporters were largely kept at arms' length from the experts, but snippets of their findings crept out over Twitter and interviews.
The experts spent one month in China, two weeks in quarantine and the same again on fieldwork.
But, already over a year after the virus emerged, some of it was of questionable relevance to their stated aim of finding the virus source, including a visit to a propaganda exhibition celebrating China's recovery from the pandemic.
The group spent just an hour at the seafood market where many of the first reported clusters of infections emerged over a year ago.
They also appeared to spend several days inside their hotel, receiving visits from various Chinese officials without going out into the city.
But deeper research was carried out at the Wuhan virology institute where they spent nearly four hours and said they met with Chinese scientists there including Shi Zhengli, one of China's leading experts on bat coronaviruses and deputy director of the Wuhan lab.
Former US president Donald Trump repeated a controversial theory that a lab leak may have been the source of the pandemic.
Scientists at the laboratory conduct research on some of the world's most dangerous diseases, including strains of bat coronaviruses similar to Covid-19.
Beijing is desperate to defang criticism of its handling of the chaotic early stages of the outbreak.
It has refocused attention at home -- and abroad -- on its handling of, and recovery from the outbreak.
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7 Comments on this Story
 | MaKo 3 hours ago As expected. They didnâ t look in labs so how could they find the source? |
 | Hemant Pisat5 hours ago A late visit by WHO team itself was a nonstarter. The many theories country would never let the truth come out to protect their own business interests and hegemonic tendencies. |
| ARA5 hours ago WHO thinks whole world is populated only with idiots. CHECK TIME-LINES- 1. A Chinese scientist ( whistle-blower) announced the presence of new Corona virus way back in Nov-Dec 2019. 2. WHO was not informed in time; added to it, WHO too told all of us that it is NOT a pandemic. 3. Only after nearly 3 months from its 'first sighting' , WHO gathered courage to call it a pandemic. 4. Even present probe-team was NOT GIVEN any permission for months; but, after they reached Wuhan all were kept in quarantine. Or, a thorough white-washing was happening. 5. Whistle blower said all about bats etc.but the team says nothing found. Yes no one will be able to GET AT THINGS as they were when pandemic broke-out as 15 to 17 months min. had lapsed ! This is NOT EVEN a make-believe exercise. At least Trump was open- he blasted the inefficient, powerless WHO that sided with Chinese. - WHO is NOT HONEST- (placates and placates its bosom-friend ). |