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Image source,Reuters
After a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in China launched a joint investigation in Wuhan and China, the findings and results of the investigation on the origin of the new coronavirus, the seafood market, were announced. from southern China, the role of bats and the “virus escape” from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The China-WHO Joint Expert Group on the Traceability of the New Coronavirus held a press conference on February 9. The three experts who attended were Liang Wannian, former Director of the Department of System Reform of the National Health Commission of China and current Professor of Public Health at Tsinghua University, World Health Organization Danish scientist Peter Ben Enbarek (Peter Ben Enbarek) and the Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans (Marion Koopmans).
The press conference announced the findings of the joint investigation on topics of interest to the outside world:
Wuhan South China Seafood Market
Liang Wannian, Chinese leader of the joint expert inspection team, said that based on the cases of more than 200 hospitals in Wuhan, there was no new unrecognized coronavirus cycle in Wuhan in the second half of 2019.
Liang Wannian said: In December 2019, a certain scale of infection occurred in the Wuhan population, Many of the first cases were related to the South China seafood market, which can only prove that the market is one of the points of spread of the virus. Based on current data, it is impossible to determine how the new coronavirus entered the South China seafood market.
Experts at the press conference also said the initial cases of infection were related in part to the South China seafood market, in part to other markets, and in part to any market.
Bats and viruses
The first anniversary of the Wuhan shutdown: praise and denial coexist
Regarding the fact that bats may be the direct origin of the virus, the group of experts stated that the virus carried by bats is not the direct ancestor of the new coronavirus.
Liang Wannian said that the coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins are believed to be closely related to the new coronavirus, but not enough to make them the direct ancestor of the new coronavirus.
He said: A virus that can cause a global pandemic must be highly adaptable to the human environment. This ability can be acquired by accident or it can evolve gradually, but each step benefits from natural selection.
Peter Ben Ambarek said relevant evidence suggests that the virus may have come from a natural host. “But Wuhan is not a place where bats congregate in large numbers. Therefore, the epidemic in Wuhan is unlikely to be transmitted from bats to humans at first. It can be transmitted by other animals.”
Wuhan Institute of Virology
After the outbreak of the new corona virus, the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences became the focus of attention from the outside world. The new corona virus leaked by the Institute of Virology is believed to have caused the initial outbreak of the epidemic.
Image source,Reuters
Dutch virologist Marianne Koopmans said at the press conference that the origin of the virus must be dealt with rationally and scientifically.
Peter Ben Ambarek told the press conference that based on research conducted by the World Health Organization team of experts at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and exchanges with scientific researchers, the conclusion is that the possibility of the virus comes from the institute is “extremely unlikely.”), and will not conduct further research on this in the future.
Chinese expert Liang Wannian also added that the Wuhan Institute of Virology did not have a new coronavirus before the outbreak, so there was no possibility of the virus leaking out.
WHO research in China
Before the World Health Organization investigation in China, the outside world has been calling for China to open up to the international community to investigate the origin of the virus. The joint research team this time includes 17 experts from China and 17 international experts from the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health.
The joint expert group consisted of three teams and carried out 28-day virus traceability work in Wuhan, and visited Baishazhou Commercial Market, South China Seafood Market, Hubei Provincial Center for the disease control and prevention, Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Hubei Province Animal Disease Control and Prevention Center, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions.
At the press conference, a reporter asked if there were reports of virus cases in other parts of the world before the outbreak of the Wuhan epidemic, if this was related to the appearance of the new coronavirus in Wuhan.
Marianne Koopmans responded that this also requires a genetic comparison between the virus that appeared in Wuhan and the virus that appeared elsewhere to draw a conclusion.
Wuhan, China, is the first city in the world to adopt lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the new corona virus. The epidemic caused by the new corona virus in the world continues to be wide-ranging, and there are still many countries that have not escaped the dilemma caused by the epidemic.
It remains to be seen to what extent the latest findings released by the World Health Organization and the China Joint Research Team can eliminate external criticism of the Chinese government’s handling of the epidemic, such as “opacity,” “concealment,” and “whistleblower suppression”. . “
Peter Ben Ambarek said the World Health Organization will publish the findings and recommendations of this research, and more experts going to China will also accept inquiries and interviews from the media. Regarding the appearance of the new coronavirus in the food freezing chain, he said that this will be a problem that needs to be studied.
