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Coronavirus – All the news: A member of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating evidence of the origin of COVID-19 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan says that work should be done to find genetic evidence of the virus in bats of caves.
Peter Dazak, a zoologist and zoologist, said the team in Wuhan was receiving new information about how the virus, first identified in the city in late 2019, led to a pandemic. He did not provide further details, but said there was no evidence that it came from a laboratory.
The origins of the coronavirus have been largely politicized following allegations, especially from the United States, that China was not transparent in its initial handling of the outbreak. Beijing has promoted the idea that the virus came from elsewhere.
Dazak participated in research on the origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, discovering its roots in bats living in a cave in southwestern Yunnan province.
“Similar research is needed if we are to find the true source of wildlife,” said Dazak, president of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance.
“This work of finding the potential source of the bat is important because if we find the sources of these deadly viruses we can reduce contact with these animals,” he told Reuters in an interview.
It is unclear whether China is taking samples from the country’s many bat caves, but viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 have been found in the southwestern Yunnan province.
Dazak said the Wuhan WHO team was receiving new information on how the virus led to a pandemic, but did not elaborate.
“I see an image emerging through some of the scenarios that seems more plausible than before,” he said.
One scenario the team is studying more closely is the possibility that the virus was circulating long before it was first identified in Uhan.
“It’s something our team is looking at very closely to see what level of transmission in the community might have existed earlier,” Dazak said.
“The real work we’re doing here is starting with the first animal reservoir cases, and that’s a much more complex path, and it could have happened months or even years ago.”
Investigators have visited hospitals, research facilities and the seafood market where the first outbreak was identified, though their contacts in Wuhan are limited to visits organized by their Chinese hosts.
Dazak said Chinese authorities had not denied any of the group’s requests to visit the facilities or meet with critical people.
“Of course it is impossible to know what we are not told, but what I see in China, and what this group sees in China, is that what we ask, we are allowed to do,” Dazak said.
Source: ΑΠΕ – ΜΠΕ
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