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The secret services of the United States know two things about the origin of the corona virus: the pathogen comes from China and “was not made by humans or genetically modified.” So it is in the recently published finding of the director of the National Secret Services (DNI), who coordinates the 16 different services.
Intelligence officials don’t know where and how exactly the first transmission of the virus discovered in bats to humans took place. Attempts will be made to find out “whether the outbreak started due to contact with an infected animal or is the result of a laboratory accident in Wuhan,” the report said.
Perhaps Richard Grenell, the United States’ ambassador to Germany and DNI holder, can get the answer directly from his friend in the White House. President Donald Trump claimed the same day that his intelligence agencies released their assessment for the first time that he had evidence that Agent Covid-19 came from a laboratory in Wuhan. When asked by reporters what he knew he did not know about his secret services, Trump replied: “I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you.”
White House pressure
Before the DNI evaluation was published, the New York Times newspaper had reported that senior officials of the president urged US intelligence agencies to link the Wuhan virus laboratory to the outbreak. Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo is particularly committed, citing the “Wuhan Institute of Virology” proximity to a market as evidence. “The fact that China does not give us answers says it all.”
Or nothing, as emphasized by the vast majority of scientists, who believe that Trump’s suspicions are a conspiracy theory. A research group of leading virologists led by Kristian G. Andersen of the “Scripps Research Translation Institute” in California published an article in the journal “Nature Medicine” in March explaining that “each variant of a laboratory setting is not plausible”.
The researchers explain this with the virus’ genetic code, which makes a connection to the laboratory appear “astronomically low” compared to natural transmission. The virus is much more likely to have been caused by the contact or consumption of farmers, hunters, or others with infected animals.
Despite this broad consensus among experts, scientists also think it is important to find out exactly how the first transfer was made. Pandemic researcher Daniel R. Lucey, from Georgetown University in Washington, asked China to cooperate with the international community. This is important for the prevention of future outbreaks.
