COVID origins mystery continues to spark speculation and tension

Color scanning electron micrographs of cells strongly infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (red) (blue) isolated from patient samples. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is rampant around the world, killing millions and stagnating the economy. But where exactly did it come from?

Since there are few clear answers, speculation has continued since the beginning of the pandemic, with false information and misinformation. Conspiracy theory Diplomatic tensions have also intensified.

It looks at the leads that scientists are tracking to determine how to make decisions, and the leads they reject. Virus We have made a leap forward for humankind. They say that if you find the right answer, you can avoid the next pandemic.

Animal
Bats were identified early on as a likely source of COVID-19.

However, scientists believe that the virus transmitted another species from winged mammals before it reached humans.

Pangolin was selected as a suspect because it was one of the wildlife species sold on the market in Wuhan, China, and was associated with most of the first known cases of coronavirus.

However, uncertainty about this theory Will last.

A joint study by World Health Organization (WHO) experts and Chinese scientists who visited Wuhan in January 2021 should have helped shed light on the theory, but no missing link was found.

Other animal mediators, such as minks and ferret-badgers, are also suspected.

Artificial
Another idea that emerged early on was that the virus was artificially created rather than infecting humans through animals.

This idea was often associated with the theory that the virus leaked from a safe biological laboratory in Wuhan. The idea was widespread online with the help of former President Donald Trump.

One version of this theory claims that the virus was intentionally created and spread.

Some Internet publications claim that the existence of a coronavirus patent provides “evidence” for this, but it actually refers to patented research on other coronaviruses.

Despite the fact that scientists say such genetic manipulation is visible in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, the idea that other pathogens have been spliced ​​into the virus has also proven popular. Masu.

Professor Olivier Schwartz of the Pasteur Institute calls such an idea “totally unfounded.”

Lab Leak
For example, the idea that a naturally occurring virus from a bat may have escaped from a safe biolab has been further investigated in recent weeks.

A WHO team visiting Wuhan in January said in a report that animal infections were “very likely” while laboratory leaks were “extremely unlikely.” ..

However, WHO Executive Director Tedros Gebreyes said of the leak theory in the laboratory, “Further investigation is needed, and additional missions involving professional experts may be needed, and I will develop it. I’m ready. “

In May, a group of 18 experts reflected this opinion in an editorial published in Science magazine.

“Until we have enough data, we must take the hypothesis about spillover in the laboratory naturally and seriously,” they write.

“Appropriate investigations should be transparent, objective, data-driven, include extensive expertise, be subject to independent monitoring, and be responsible for minimizing the impact of conflicts of interest. “

The Wall Street Journal reported in May, citing US intelligence reports, that three workers at the Wuhan Virology Institute were hospitalized for seasonal illness in November 2019.

A few days later, US President Joe Biden gave intelligence for three months to report to intelligence whether the COVID-19 virus first occurred in China from animals or in a laboratory accident. It was.

However, experts point out that the new interest in this theory comes not from new evidence, but from lack of information.

“There are no new de facto elements that move the needle in one direction,” said Schwartz of the Pasteur Institute, pointing out that the theory of natural transmission remains the “most valid” explanation.

Diplomacy and geopolitics

By imposing pandemic responsibilities, Beijing and Washington are eager to point out each other.

As the host country for the first confirmed cases in the world, China is under close scrutiny.

Western nations have accused them of lack of transparency, both in their initial response and in their cooperation in investigating the origin of the virus.

Tensions between the United States and China had already risen in the spring of 2020, when Trump raised the Labo Leak theory.

Last week, WHO chief emergency officer Michelle Ryan told reporters that pointing did not help in proceeding with the investigation.

“The whole process is poisoned by politics,” he warned.

WHO states that understanding how the epidemic began is “essential to prevent further invasion of humankind.”

But late last year, even before the team embarked on Wuhan, organizations said the process of tracking how the disease emerged from animals was a “mystery that could take years to solve.” I warned.

“The introduction of a new virus into humanity is one of the biggest mysteries that epidemiologists want to unravel,” he said.

China rejects illness claim at Wuhan Institute of Veterans Affairs in late 2019. AFP