the BBC’s John Sudworth and colleagues attempted to drive to the mine John Sudworth. Twitter. 25 May 2021. https://twitter.com/TheJohnSudworth/status/1397223374745706510 John Sudworth. ‘Covid: Wuhan Scientist Would “Welcome” Visit Probing Lab Leak Theory’. BBC. 21 December 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55364445
John Sudworth was only one of many thwarted reporters Dake Kang, Maria Cheng and Sam McNeil. ‘China Clamps Down in Hidden Hunt for Coronavirus Origins’. Associated Press. 30 December 2020. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-coronavirus-pandemic-china-only-on-ap-bats-24fbadc58cee3a40bca2ddf7a14d2955
A team from NBC’s Today show were told that wild elephants Today. 2 April 2021, video report. https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1377957516907311104
In 2021, a team of undercover French journalists got close Envoye Speciale. 11 March 2021, video report. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1370183826731888641
Wall Street Journal reported that its journalist did manage to get very close to the mine Jeremy Page, Betsy McKay and Drew Hinshaw. ‘The Wuhan Lab Leak Question: A Disused Chinese Mine Takes Center Stage’. Wall Street Journal. 24 May 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wuhan-lab-leak-question-chinese-mine-covid-pandemic-11621871125
So it is to satellite images that we turn Brian Reed. Twitter. 4 February 2021. https://twitter.com/Drinkwater5Reed/status/1357213217085403139. Francisco de Ribera. Twitter. 6 April 2021. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1379386245911093250
Two books unearthed by Reed Mojiang Hani Autonomous County History 2002. Geographical names of Mojiang County Autonomous County, Yunnan Province 1985. Available at https://pastebin.com/u/franciscodeasis/1/ZE8kL74V. See also: Memorabilia of the Party History 1959. http://www.peds.gov.cn/mj/zx_nr.asp?id=3694
A study of bat guano in a Thai cave Wacharapluesadee, S., Sintunawa, C., Kaewpom, T., Khongnomnan, K., Olival, K. J., Epstein, J. H., Rodpan, A., Sangsri, P., Intarut, N., Chindamporn, A., Suksawa, K., & Hemachudha, T. (2013). ‘Group C Betacoronavirus in Bat Guano Fertilizer, Thailand’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 19(8), 1349–1351. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1908.130119
the 2013 medical thesis https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6981198-Analysis-of-Six-Patients-With-Unknown-Viruses.html
They identified a new Henipavirus-like paramyxovirus Wu, Z., Yang, L., Yang, F., Ren, X., Jiang, J., Dong, J., Sun, L., Zhu, Y., Zhou, H., & Jin, Q. (2014). ‘Novel Henipa-like virus, Mojiang Paramyxovirus, in rats, China, 2012’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 20(6), 1064–1066. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2006.131022. Richard Stone. ‘A New Killer Virus in China?’. Science. 20 March 2014. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/new-killer-virus-china
virus was incapable of replication in monkey, human or hamster cells Rissanen, I., Ahmed, A. A., Azarm, K., Beaty, S., Hong, P., Nambulli, S., Duprex, W. P., Lee, B., & Bowden, T. A. (2017). ‘Idiosyncratic Mòjiang Virus Attachment Glycoprotein Directs a Host-Cell Entry Pathway Distinct from Genetically Related Henipaviruses’. Nature Communications, 8, 16060. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16060
They published a tiny part of its genomic sequence in 2016 Ge, X. Y., Wang, N., Zhang, W., Hu, B., Li, B., Zhang, Y. Z., Zhou, J. H., Luo, C. M., Yang, X. L., Wu, L. J., Wang, B., Zhang, Y., Li, Z. X., & Shi, Z. L. (2016). ‘Coexistence of Multiple Coronaviruses in Several Bat Colonies in an Abandoned Mineshaft’. Virologica Sinica, 31(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-016-3713-9
Dr Yingle’s paper was published in a prominent journal Chen, L., Liu, W., Zhang, Q., Xu, K., Ye, G., Wu, W., Sun, Z., Liu, F., Wu, K., Zhong, B., Mei, Y., Zhang, W., Chen, Y., Li, Y., Shi, M., Lan, K., & Liu, Y. (2020). ‘RNA Based mNGS Approach Identifies a Novel Human Coronavirus from Two Individual Pneumonia Cases in 2019 Wuhan Outbreak’. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 9(1), 313–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1725399
on 3 February a paper had been published in the prestigious journal Nature Zhou, P., Yang, X. L., Wang, X. G., Hu, B., Zhang, L., Zhang, W., Si, H. R., Zhu, Y., Li, B., Huang, C. L., Chen, H. D., Chen, J., Luo, Y., Guo, H., Jiang, R. D., Liu, M. Q., Chen, Y., Shen, X. R., Wang, X., Zheng, X. S., . . . Shi, Z. L. (2020). ‘A Pneumonia Outbreak Associated with a New Coronavirus of Probable Bat Origin’. Nature, 579(7798), 270–273. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7
published an article on his Virology Blog Vincent Racaniello. ‘Pangolins and the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus’. Virology. ws. 20 February 2020. https://www.virology.ws/2020/02/20/pangolins-and-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-coronavirus/
Daszak claimed in an interview George Arbuthnott, Jonathan Calvert and Philip Sherwell. ‘Revealed: Seven Year Coronavirus Trail from Mine Deaths to a Wuhan Lab’. Sunday Times. 4 July 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/seven-year-covid-trail-revealed-l5vxt7jqp
these online sleuths have filled the gap Moreno Colaiacovo. ‘The Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Is a Riddle: Meet the Twitter Detectives Who Aim to Solve It’. Medium. 3 December 2020. https://mygenomix.medium.com/the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-is-a-riddle-meet-the-twitter-detectives-who-aim-to-solve-it-5050216fd279
calling itself the ‘Decentralized Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating COVID-19’ https://drasticresearch.org/the-team/
published an addendum Zhou, P., Yang, X. L., Wang, X. G., Hu, B., Zhang, L., Zhang, W., Si, H. R., Zhu, Y., Li, B., Huang, C. L., Chen, H. D., Chen, J., Luo, Y., Guo, H., Jiang, R. D., Liu, M. Q., Chen, Y., Shen, X. R., Wang, X., Zheng, X. S., . . . Shi, Z. L. (2020). ‘Addendum: A Pneumonia Outbreak Associated with a New Coronavirus of Probable Bat Origin’. Nature, 588(7836), E6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2951-z
it told members of the WHO-China global study of origins of SARS-CoV-2 Joint WHO-China Study. WHO-Convened Global Study of Origins of SARS-CoV-2: China Part. Joint Report – ANNEXES. World Health Organization. 14 January–10 February 2021. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-convened-global-study-of-origins-of-sars-cov-2-china-part-annexes.pdf
Tyrrell had sent a sample to Almeida Almeida J. (2008). June Almeida (née Hart). BMJ: British Medical Journal, 336(7659), 1511. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a434
She and seven colleagues wrote to the journal Nature ‘Virology: Coronaviruses’. (1968). Nature, 220(5168), 650. https://doi.org/10.1038/220650b0
Within the beta-coronaviruses lies a ‘species’ Linked source was incorrect
Viruses are all around us all the time Reche, I., D’Orta, G., Mladenov, N., Winget, D. M., & Suttle, C. A. (2018). ‘Deposition Rates of Viruses and Bacteria Above the Atmospheric Boundary Layer’. ISME journal, 12(4), 1154–1162. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-017-0042-4
can also infect animals such as cats, tigers, lions, minks Smriti Mallapaty. ‘The Search for Animals Harbouring Coronavirus – And Why It Matters’. Nature. 2 March 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00531-z
weighs about thirty quintillionths of an ounce Bar-On, Y. M., Flamholz, A., Phillips, R., & Milo, R. (2020). ‘SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) by the Numbers’. eLife, 9, e57309. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57309
could fit inside a single soda can Christian Yates. ‘Why All the World’s Coronavirus Would Fit in a Can of Cola’. The Conversation. 10 February 2021. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210210-why-the-entire-coronavirus-would-fit-in-a-can-of-coca-cola
The infectious diseases that have ravaged human populations Michael S. Rosenwald. ‘History’s Deadliest Pandemics, from Ancient Rome to Modern America’. Washington Post. 7 April 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/local/retropolis/coronavirus-deadliest-pandemics/
Bacteria were known from the late 1600s Aria Nouri. ‘The Discovery of Bacteria’. AAAS. 5 July 2011. https://www.aaas.org/discovery-bacteria
the criteria known as Koch’s postulates Grimes, D. J. (2008). ‘Koch’s Postulates – Then and Now’. Microbe, 1(5): 223–228. DOI:10.1128/microbe.1.223.1 http://www.antimicrobe.org/history/Microbe-Grimes-Kochs%20Postulates-2006.pdf
by inoculating healthy plants with sap from diseased plants Artenstein A. W. (2012). ‘The Discovery of Viruses: Advancing Science and Medicine by Challenging Dogma’. International Journal of Infectious Diseases: Official Publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 16(7), e470–e473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2012.03.005
Martinus Beijerinck coined the word ‘virus’ Theresa Machemer. ‘How a Few Sick Tobacco Plants Led Scientists to Unravel the Truth About Viruses’. Smithsonian Magazine. 24 March 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-are-viruses-history-tobacco-mosaic-disease-180974480/
when the virus makes it into the lungs David Cyranoski. ‘Profile of a Killer: The Complex Biology Powering the Coronavirus Pandemic’. Nature. 4 May 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01315-7
In 2005, Dr Marc van Ranst at Leuven University in Belgium examined parts of the genomes of the two viruses Vijgen, L., Keyaerts, E., Moës, E., Thoelen, I., Wollants, E., Lemey, P., Vandamme, A. M., & Van Ranst, M. (2005). ‘Complete Genomic Sequence of Human Coronavirus OC43: Molecular Clock Analysis Suggests a Relatively Recent Zoonotic Coronavirus Transmission Event’. Journal of Virology, 79(3), 1595–1604. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.79.3.1595-1604.2005
the coincidence of the date of the pandemic and the likely date of OC43’s arrival in the human species ‘Q&A: Why History Suggests Covid-19 Is Here to Stay’. Biocev. 14 April 2021. https://www.biocev.eu/en/about/projects/micobion.2/q-a-why-history-suggests-covid-19-is-here-to-stay.271
The outbreak began in central Asia, in the independent city state of Bukhara in May 1889 Charles River Editors. The 1889–1890 Flu Pandemic: The History of the 19th Century’s Last Major Global Outbreak (pp. 13–14). Kindle Edition
A key insight came from the evolutionary biologist Dr Paul Ewald Ewald P. W. (2011). ‘Evolution of Virulence, Environmental Change, and the Threat Posed by Emerging and Chronic Diseases’. Ecological Research, 26(6), 1017–1026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-011-0874-8
At least two western infectious diseases experts James Rainey and Kiera Feldman. ‘Impeachment. Primaries. Kobe. Coronavirus Rushed in While Our Focus Was Elsewhere’. Los Angeles Times. 12 April 2020. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-12/coronavirus-attention-impeachment-primaries-kobe; see also: Vincent Racaniello and Ian Lipkin. ‘TWiV Special: Conversation with a COVID-19 Patient, Ian Lipkin’. This Week in Virology. 28 March 2020. https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-lipkin/; Nicholas A. Christakis @NAChristakis Twitter. 31 August 2021. https://twitter.com/NAChristakis/status/1432875764895133710; ‘Virologists on the Coronavirus Outbreak’. VPRO Documentary. 27 March 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DeUBLeMnjY
Wuhan Central Hospital took a sample from a patient’s lung on 24 December 2019 Jane McMullen. ‘China’s COVID Secrets’. PBS Frontline. 2 February 2021. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/chinas-covid-secrets/transcript/
the first person to sound the alarm on the emerging coronavirus Li, X., Cui, W., & Zhang, F. (2020). ‘Who Was the First Doctor to Report the COVID-19 Outbreak in Wuhan, China?’ Journal of Nuclear Medicine: Official Publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 61(6), 782–783. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.120.247262; Billie Thomson. ‘The Doctor Who “Discovered the Coronavirus”: Wuhan Medic Raised the Alarm to Authorities in December After Noticing “Mysterious Pneumonia” That Could Spread Between People’. Daily Mail. 29 April 2020. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8268509/Meet-doctor-discovered-coronavirus.html
Across town, on 27 December, Dr Ai Fen Lily Kuo. ‘Coronavirus: Wuhan Doctor Speaks Out Against Authorities’. Guardian. 11 March 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/coronavirus-wuhan-doctor-ai-fen-speaks-out-against-authorities
Don’t circulate the message outside this group ‘New Corona Pneumonia “Whistleblower” Li Wenliang: Reality Is More Important Than Redress’. Caixin. 31 January 2020. http://china.caixin.com/2020-01-31/101509761.html
who contacted Dr Marjorie Pollack, the deputy editor of ProMED-mail Jane McMullen. ‘Covid-19: Five Days That Shaped The Outbreak’. BBC. 26 January 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55756452
As the world learned of the outbreak on the last day of 2019 ‘Chinese Officials Investigate Cause of Pneumonia Outbreak in Wuhan’. Reuters. 31 December 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-pneumonia/chinese-officials-investigate-cause-of-pneumonia-outbreak-in-wuhan-idUSKBN1YZ0GP
the Huanan seafood market was being shuttered by the authorities Jeremy Page and Natasha Khan. ‘On the Ground in Wuhan, Signs of China Stalling Probe of Coronavirus Origins’. Wall Street Journal. 12 May 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-stalls-global-search-for-coronavirus-origins-wuhan-markets-investigation-11589300842
Dr Ai was rebuked by her hospital Lily Kuo. ‘Coronavirus: Wuhan Doctor Speaks Out Against Authorities’. Guardian. 11 March 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/coronavirus-wuhan-doctor-ai-fen-speaks-out-against-authorities
Dr Li developed Covid-19 symptoms Stephanie Hegarty. ‘The Chinese Doctor Who Tried to Warn Others About Coronavirus’. BBC. 6 February 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382
left behind a pregnant wife and a young child ‘Li Wenliang: Widow of Chinese Coronavirus Doctor Gives Birth to Son’. BBC. 12 June 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53021852
the government’s management of the outbreak and Dr Li’s whistleblowing Nie, J. B., & Elliott, C. (2020). ‘Humiliating Whistle-Blowers: Li Wenliang, the Response to Covid-19, and the Call for a Decent Society’. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 17(4), 543–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-020-09990-x
the Chinese authorities had obtained the genome sequence ‘Exclusive | Coronavirus Gene Sequencing Traceability: When Did the Alarm Sound?’ Caixin. 26 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200227094018/http://china.caixin.com/2020-02-26/101520972.html; see also Jeremy Farrar (2021). Spike: The Virus vs. The People. Profile.
A day after Dr Li signed the confession letter John Sudworth. ‘Wuhan: City of Silence’. BBC. 7 July 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/ewsu2giezk/city-of-silence-china-wuhan
Sinopharm kicked into high gear manufacturing a vaccine Dake Kang. ‘China Testing Blunders Stemmed from Secret Deals with Firms’. Associated Press. 3 December 2020. https://apnews.com/article/china-virus-testing-secret-deals-firms-312f4a953e0264a3645219a08c62a0ad; Norman. Twitter. 29 November 2020. https://twitter.com/norman7177/status/1333096602765062144
According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders ‘China: Protect Human Rights While Combatting Coronavirus Outbreak. Chinese Human Rights Defenders’. 31 January 2020. https://www.nchrd.org/2020/01/china-protect-human-rights-while-combatting-coronavirus-outbreak/
Taiwanese health authorities were carefully monitoring Chinese social media ‘The Facts Regarding Taiwan’s Email to Alert WHO to Possible Danger of COVID-19’. Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. 11 April 2020. https://www.cdc.gov.tw/Category/ListContent/sOn2_m9QgxKqhZ7omgiz1A?uaid=PAD-lbwDHeN_bLa-viBOuw
The Taiwanese government sent Professor Chuang Yin-ching Tom Cheshire. ‘COVID-19 One Year On: The Taiwanese Scientist Who Tried to Warn the World of Coronavirus’. Sky News. 7 December 2020. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-one-year-on-the-taiwanese-scientist-who-tried-to-warn-the-world-of-coronavirus-12152979
Taiwan has still not been invited to join as a member of the WHO ‘Why Taiwan Has Become a Problem for WHO’. BBC. 30 March 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52088167
the WHO had been informed by Sir Jeremy Farrar Jeremy Farrar (2021). Spike: The Virus vs. The People.
Separate groups of scientists analysing genetic data van Dorp, L., Acman, M., Richard, D., Shaw, L. P., Ford, C. E., Ormond, L., Owen, C. J., Pang, J., Tan, C., Boshier, F., Ortiz, A. T., & Balloux, F. (2020). ‘Emergence of Genomic Diversity and Recurrent Mutations in SARS-CoV-2’. Infection, Genetics and Evolution: Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases, 83, 104351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104351; see also Kumar, S., Tao, Q., Weaver, S., Sanderford, M., Caraballo-Ortiz, M. A., Sharma, S., Pond, S., & Miura, S. (2021). ‘An Evolutionary Portrait of the Progenitor SARS-CoV-2 and Its Dominant Offshoots in COVID-19 Pandemic’. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology, 2020.09.24.311845. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.24.311845
According to government data seen by the South China Morning Post in March 2020 Josephine Ma. ‘Coronavirus: China’s First Confirmed Covid-19 Case Traced Back to November 17’. South China Morning Post. 13 March 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back
The hospitals and laboratories that possessed early samples from December 2019 were instructed by the authorities to destroy them Sophia Ankel. ‘China Confirms US Accusations That It Destroyed Early Samples of the Novel Coronavirus, But Says It Was Done for “Biosafety Reasons”’. Business Insider. 16 May 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-confirms-that-it-destroyed-early-samples-of-new-coronavirus-2020-5
a later study by the University of Kent in Canterbury Roberts, D. L., Rossman, J. S., & Jaric, I. (2021). ‘Dating First Cases of COVID-19’. PLoS Pathogens, 17(6), e1009620. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009620
nine thousand athletes from a hundred countries participated Diane Francis. ‘Canadian Forces Have Right to Know If They Got COVID at the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan’. Financial Post. 25 June 2021. https://financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-canadian-forces-have-right-to-know-if-they-got-covid-at-the-2019-military-world-games-in-wuhan
Xinhua reported that on 18 September ‘Xinhua: On Sep 18, 2019, Wuhan Held an Emergency Response Drill for Novel Coronavirus’. Xinhua. 26 September 2019. http://chinascope.org/archives/21681?doing_wp_cron=1613400458.4895019531250000000000
‘investigative thread languishing due to neglect’ Josh Rogin. Twitter. 26 June 2021. https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/1408812303345192968
more than a hundred people could well have already contracted the disease Julia Hollingsworth and Yong Xiong. ‘The Truthtellers’. CNN. February 2021. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/02/asia/china-wuhan-covid-truthtellers-intl-hnk-dst/
a study by Wuhan and other Chinese scientists published on 24 January 2020 Chen, N., Zhou, M., Dong, X., Qu, J., Gong, F., Han, Y., Qiu, Y., Wang, J., Liu, Y., Wei, Y., Xia, J., Yu, T., Zhang, X., & Zhang, L. (2020). ‘Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of 99 Cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in Wuhan, China: A Descriptive Study’. Lancet (London, England), 395(10223), 507–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7
Dr Jesse Bloom of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center made a new breakthrough Jesse D. Bloom. ‘Recovery of Deleted Deep Sequencing Data Sheds More Light on the Early Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic’. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology 2021.06.18.449051; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.18.449051
the vice minister of China’s National Health Commission tried to clarify Carl Zimmer. ‘Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back’ New York Times. 30 July 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/science/coronavirus-sequences-lab-leak.html
he set about sequencing the genome of the virus Charlie Campbell. ‘Exclusive: The Chinese Scientist Who Sequenced the First COVID-19 Genome Speaks Out About the Controversies Surrounding His Work’. Time. 24 August 2020. https://time.com/5882918/zhang-yongzhen-interview-china-coronavirus-genome/; ‘China’s Response to the New Coronavirus Gains International Recognition’. 17 January 2020. http://www.rmzxb.com.cn/c/2020-01-17/2508144.shtml
According to an investigation by the Associated Press Dake Kang. ‘China Testing Blunders Stemmed from Secret Deals with Firms’. Associated Press. 3 December 2020
Dr Nick Loman from the University of Birmingham @pathogenomenick Twitter response to Alina Chan. 5 February 2021. https://twitter.com/pathogenomenick/status/1357808339321827337
Jeremy Farrar tweeted @JeremyFarrar Tweet. 10 January 2020. https://twitter.com/JeremyFarrar/status/1215647022893670401; see also Jeremy Farrar (2021). Spike: The Virus vs. The People.
published the novel coronavirus genome on a site called Virological.org Edward Holmes. ‘Novel 2019 Coronavirus Genome’. Virological. 10 January 2020. https://virological.org/t/novel-2019-coronavirus-genome/319
According to accounts by Dr Holmes Kate Aubusson. ‘Virus Rebel Professor Edward Holmes Named NSW Scientist of the Year’. Sydney Morning Herald. 27 October 2020. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/virus-rebel-professor-edward-holmes-named-nsw-scientist-of-the-year-20201026-p568qj.html
Later, Dr Zhang connected with GenBank to release the genome from embargo Wuhan seafood market pneumonia virus isolate Wuhan-Hu-1, complete genome. GenBank: MN908947.1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947.1
the Chinese National Health Commission had told the WIV’s director general, Dr Wang Yanyi Nick Schifrin. ‘How Virus Research Has Become a Point of Tension for the US and China’. PBS Newshour. 22 May 2020. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-virus-research-has-become-a-point-of-tension-for-the-u-s-and-china
Dr Zhang’s laboratory was closed for ‘rectification’ on 12 January Pinghui Zhuang. ‘Chinese Laboratory That First Shared Coronavirus Genome with World Ordered to Close for “Rectification”, Hindering Its Covid-19 Research’. South China Morning Post. 28 February 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3052966/chinese-laboratory-first-shared-coronavirus-genome-world-ordered
Documents leaked to the Associated Press Dake Kang, Maria Cheng and Sam McNeil. ‘China Clamps Down in Hidden Hunt for Coronavirus Origins’. Associated Press. 30 December 2020. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-coronavirus-pandemic-china-only-on-ap-bats-24fbadc58cee3a40bca2ddf7a14d2955
CNN reported that staff from the Chinese education ministry verified the directive Nectar Gan, Caitlin Hu and Ivan Watson. ‘Beijing Tightens Grip Over Coronavirus Research, Amid US-China Row on Virus Origin’. CNN. 16 April 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/asia/china-coronavirus-research-restrictions-intl-hnk/index.html
Wuhan’s mayor Zhou Xianwang had hosted a record-breaking banquet James Griffiths. ‘Is Wuhan’s Mayor Being Set Up to Be the Fall Guy for the Virus Outbreak?’ CNN. 29 January 2020. https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-01-29-20-intl-hnk/h_6d8cf9d5c0b2cf01447dd24325ed6dd3; James Kynge, Sun Yu and Tom Hancock. ‘Coronavirus: The Cost of China’s Public Health Cover-Up’. Financial Times. 6 February 2020. https://www.ft.com/content/fa83463a-4737-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441; ‘Timeline: China’s COVID-19 Outbreak and Lockdown of Wuhan’. Associated Press. 22 January 2021. https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-wuhan-china-coronavirus-pandemic-e6147ec0ff88affb99c811149424239d
the first case of Covid-19 outside China was confirmed in Thailand Lisa Schnirring. ‘Report: Thailand’s Coronavirus Patient Didn’t Visit Outbreak Market’. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. 14 January 2020. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/report-thailands-coronavirus-patient-didnt-visit-outbreak-market
The first case in Japan was confirmed on 15 January Lisa Schnirring. ‘Japan Has 1st Novel Coronavirus Case; China Reports Another Death’. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. 16 January 2020. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/japan-has-1st-novel-coronavirus-case-china-reports-another-death
Covid-19 cases started to bubble up around the world USA: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. France: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7029452/. Canada: https://www.canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca/covid-19-a-canadian-timeline. Australia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-25/first-confirmed-coronavirus-case-australian-as-china-toll-rises/11900428. Germany: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30314-5/fulltext. India: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530459/. Italy: https://www.corriere.it/cronache/20_gennaio_31/virus-primi-due-casi-italia-due-cinesi-marito-moglie-italia-dieci-giorni-e365df1c-43b3-11ea-bdc8-faf1f56f19b7.shtml. Sweden: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-31/sweden-reports-first-case-of-confirmed-coronavirus. UK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-55622386
Dr Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao, husband and wife scientists in Wuhan, published an online article Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao. ‘The Possible Origins of 2019-nCoV Coronavirus’. ResearchGate preprint. 6 February 2020. Available at: https://img-prod.tgcom24.mediaset.it/images/2020/02/16/114720192-5eb8307f-017c-4075-a697-348628da0204.pdf
Dr Botao Xiao wrote in an email to the Wall Street Journal on 26 February James T. Areddy. ‘Coronavirus Epidemic Draws Scrutiny to Labs Handling Deadly Pathogens’. Wall Street Journal. 5 March 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-epidemic-draws-scrutiny-to-labs-handling-deadly-pathogens-11583349777
The interview with Dr Shi was published in Scientific American Jane Qiu. ‘How China’s “Bat Woman” Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus’. Scientific American. 11 March 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/
Dr Gao was just as certain that the market was not the source of the outbreak Aristos Georgiou. ‘Wuhan Seafood Market Was a “Victim” of Coronavirus, Says Director of China’s CDC’. Newsweek. 27 May 2020. https://www.newsweek.com/wuhan-seafood-market-victim-coronavirus-china-cdc-1506766
the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) was briefed by the Chinese government Jeremy Page and Natasha Khan. ‘On the Ground in Wuhan, Signs of China Stalling Probe of Coronavirus Origins’. Wall Street Journal. 12 May 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-stalls-global-search-for-coronavirus-origins-wuhan-markets-investigation-11589300842
On 21 February 2003, Dr Liu Jianlun, a sixty-four-year-old medical professor from Guangzhou Update 95 – SARS: Chronology of a Serial Killer. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_07_04/en/ (Website removed.)
In Guangdong, domestic cat meat is a delicacy Josephine Ma. ‘Guangdong Gourmets Eat 10,000 Cats a Day’. South China Morning Post. 4 December 2002. https://www.scmp.com/article/399602/guangdong-gourmets-eat-10000-cats-day
domestic cats had been determined Martina, B. E., Haagmans, B. L., Kuiken, T., Fouchier, R. A., Rimmelzwaan, G. F., Van Amerongen, G., Peiris, J. S., Lim, W., & Osterhaus, A. D. (2003). ‘Virology: SARS Virus Infection of Cats and Ferrets’. Nature, 425(6961), 915. https://doi.org/10.1038/425915a
SARS seems to have erupted several times across seven municipalities Xu, R. H., He, J. F., Evans, M. R., Peng, G. W., Field, H. E., Yu, D. W., Lee, C. K., Luo, H. M., Lin, W. S., Lin, P., Li, L. H., Liang, W. J., Lin, J. Y., & Schnur, A. (2004). ‘Epidemiologic Clues to SARS Origin in China’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10(6), 1030–1037. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1006.030852
the WHO was severely critical of the Chinese government for its lack of openness Thomas Crampton. ‘WHO Criticizes China Over Handling of Mystery Disease’. New York Times. 7 April 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/07/international/asia/who-criticizes-china-over-handling-of-mystery-disease.html
The patients in ambulances were driven around the city while the WHO team visited the hospital John Pomfret. ‘Beijing Told Doctors to Hide SARS Victims’. Washington Post. 20 April 2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/04/20/beijing-told-doctors-to-hide-sars-victims/3eb7d1aa-d2ff-477b-bc15-d0164377b123/
it was not until 1989 that scientists discovered a very closely related virus in wild chimps Zoltan Fehervari. ‘Origin Story’. Nature. 28 November 2018. https://www.nature.com/articles/d42859-018-00008-6
a team of scientists from Hong Kong visited a live animal market in Shenzhen Guan, Y., Zheng, B. J., He, Y. Q., Liu, X. L., Zhuang, Z. X., Cheung, C. L., Luo, S. W., Li, P. H., Zhang, L. J., Guan, Y. J., Butt, K. M., Wong, K. L., Chan, K. W., Lim, W., Shortridge, K. F., Yuen, K. Y., Peiris, J. S., & Poon, L. L. (2003). ‘Isolation and Characterization of Viruses Related to the SARS Coronavirus from Animals in Southern China’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 302(5643), 276–278. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1087139
Similar studies were conducted in the same month of May by Guangdong scientists Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2003). ‘Prevalence of IgG Antibody to SARS-Associated Coronavirus in Animal Traders – Guangdong Province, China, 2003’. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52(41), 986–987
The highest antibody prevalence (72.7 per cent) was found in those who primarily traded civets Tu, C., Crameri, G., Kong, X., Chen, J., Sun, Y., Yu, M., Xiang, H., Xia, X., Liu, S., Ren, T., Yu, Y., Eaton, B. T., Xuan, H., & Wang, L. F. (2004). ‘Antibodies to SARS Coronavirus in Civets’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10(12), 2244–2248. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1012.040520
The waitress was diagnosed with possible SARS on 2 January 2004 Wang, M., Yan, M., Xu, H., Liang, W., Kan, B., Zheng, B., Chen, H., Zheng, H., Xu, Y., Zhang, E., Wang, H., Ye, J., Li, G., Li, M., Cui, Z., Liu, Y. F., Guo, R. T., Liu, X. N., Zhan, L. H., Zhou, D. H., . . . Xu, J. (2005). ‘SARS-CoV Infection in a Restaurant from Palm Civet’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 11(12), 1860–1865. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1112.041293
ten thousand civets were exterminated Philip P. Pan. ‘Fearing SARS, China Begins Mass Killing of Civet Cats’. Washington Post. 7 January 2004. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/01/07/fearing-sars-china-begins-mass-killing-of-civet-cats/a4955b83-76f1-415d-9797-5a37a788b1c4/
a team of Hong Kong scientists captured 127 bats, 60 rodents and 20 monkeys from 11 locations in the wild in Hong Kong Lau, S. K., Woo, P. C., Li, K. S., Huang, Y., Tsoi, H. W., Wong, B. H., Wong, S. S., Leung, S. Y., Chan, K. H., & Yuen, K. Y. (2005). ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-Like Virus in Chinese Horseshoe Bats’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(39), 14040–14045. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0506735102
Dr Zaki took a sample from the throat Islam Hussein. ‘The Story of the First MERS Patient’. Nature Middle East. 2 June 2014. https://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2014.134
MERS cases have been sporadic ‘Middle East Respiratory Syndrome’. World Health Organization. http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/mers-cov/mers-outbreaks.html
Some MERS-like coronaviruses have been identified in bats Goldstein, S. A., & Weiss, S. R. (2017). ‘Origins and Pathogenesis of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Associated Coronavirus: Recent Advances’. F1000Research, 6, 1628. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.11827.1
In November 2019, according to the Los Angeles Times Alice Su. ‘Why China’s Wildlife Ban Is Not Enough to Stop Another Virus Outbreak’. Los Angeles Times. 2 April 2020. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-02/why-china-wildlife-ban-not-enough-stop-coronavirus-outbreak
including species such as the yellow breasted bunting Agence France Presse. ‘Yellow-Breasted Buntings “Being Eaten to Extinction by China”’. Guardian. 9 June 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/buntings-are-being-eaten-to-extinction-by-china-study-says
under Chinese President Xi Jinping, TCM has been championed ‘Xi Jinping Stresses Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine for “Healthy China”’. CGTN. 25 October 2019. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-10-25/Xi-stresses-role-of-traditional-Chinese-medicine-for-Healthy-China--L4OQBRhOGA/index.html
Beijing health authorities publicly solicited submissions on a draft regulation that could criminalise anyone who slandered TCM Helen Davidson. ‘Beijing Draws Up Plans to Outlaw Criticism of Traditional Chinese Medicine’. Guardian. 3 June 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/beijing-draws-up-plans-to-outlaw-criticism-of-traditional-chinese-medicine
However, the smaller bats are used in TCM Wassenaar, T. M., & Zou, Y. (2020). ‘2019_nCoV/SARS-CoV-2: Rapid Classification of Betacoronaviruses and Identification of Traditional Chinese Medicine as Potential Origin of Zoonotic Coronaviruses’. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 70(5), 342–348. https://doi.org/10.1111/lam.13285
Dr Shi was equally certain Jon Cohen. ‘Trump “Owes Us an Apology”. Chinese Scientist at the Center of COVID-19 Origin Theories Speaks Out’. Science. 24 July 2020. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/trump-owes-us-apology-chinese-scientist-center-covid-19-origin-theories-speaks-out
At first suspicion fell on snakes Ji, W., Wang, W., Zhao, X., Zai, J., & Li, X. (2020). ‘Cross-Species Transmission of the Newly Identified Coronavirus 2019-nCoV’. Journal of Medical Virology, 92(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25682
approximately nine thousand tonnes of snakes were sold in Chinese markets each year Gene Marks. ‘Risky Business: China’s Snake Farmers Cash In on Global Venom Market’. Guardian. 12 July 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/12/snake-farm-village-china-zisiqiao-venom-market-medicine
the lucrative business in Zisiqiao was shuttered Henry Holloway. ‘Chinese “Snake Village” That Factory Farmed Reptiles for Food Shuts Down Over Coronavirus After Killer Bug Link’. Sun. 8 April 2020. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11355807/china-snake-village-coronavirus-meat/
in a paper published in Clinical Microbiology Reviews and concluded starkly – and presciently Cheng, V. C., Lau, S. K., Woo, P. C., & Yuen, K. Y. (2007). ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus as an Agent of Emerging and Reemerging Infection’. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 20(4), 660–694. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00023-07
Two of the authors repeated the warning in February 2019 Wong, A., Li, X., Lau, S., & Woo, P. (2019). ‘Global Epidemiology of Bat Coronaviruses’. Viruses, 11(2), 174. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11020174
The Chinese CDC’s map only emerged in a leak to the South China Morning Post John Power and Simone McCarthy. ‘WHO’s Coronavirus Detectives Look to Wuhan Market as Undisclosed Map Surfaces’. South China Morning Post. 15 December 2020. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3113952/whos-coronavirus-detectives-look-wuhan-market; for map, see: https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2020/12/15/8163e590-3b81-11eb-9b80-f4f1a4017c77_image_hires_125131.png
This China-WHO report revealed a different picture Origins of SARS-CoV-2 Virus. World Health Organization. 30 March 2021. https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/origins-of-the-virus
On 7 February 2020, a press release appeared on the website of South China Agricultural University Li Yan. ‘Pangolins a Potential Intermediate Host of Novel Coronavirus: Study’. Xinhua. 7 February 2020. http://www.ecns.cn/news/2020-02-07/detail-ifztmcih6512454.shtml
a group of journalists calling themselves the Global Environmental Reporting Collective put out a report on the pangolin trade called ‘Trafficked to Extinction’ Global Environmental Reporting Collective. ‘Trafficked to Extinction’. The Pangolin Reports. September 2019. https://globalstory.pangolinreports.com
In March 2019, the Guangdong and Guangxi Anti-Smuggling Bureaus, working with more than three hundred police forces in several countries Choo, S. W., Zhou, J., Tian, X., Zhang, S., Qiang, S., O’Brien, S. J., Tan, K. Y., Platto, S., Koepfli, K. P., Antunes, A., Sitam, F. T. (2020). ‘Are Pangolins Scapegoats of the COVID-19 Outbreak-CoV Transmission and Pathology Evidence?’ Conservation Letters, 13(6): e12754. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12754
When pangolin genomes were first fully sequenced in 2016 Choo, S. W., Rayko, M., Tan, T. K., Hari, R., Komissarov, A., Wee, W. Y., Yurchenko, A. A., Kliver, S., Tamazian, G., Antunes, A., Wilson, R. K., Warren, W. C., Koepfli, K. P., Minx, P., Krasheninnikova, K., Kotze, A., Dalton, D. L., Vermaak, E., Paterson, I. C., Dobrynin, P., . . . Wong, G. J. (2016). ‘Pangolin Genomes and the Evolution of Mammalian Scales and Immunity’. Genome Research, 26(10), 1312–1322. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.203521.115
In an October 2019 paper in the journal Viruses Liu, P., Chen, W., & Chen, J. P. (2019). ‘Viral Metagenomics Revealed Sendai Virus and Coronavirus Infection of Malayan Pangolins (Manis javanica)’. Viruses, 11(11), 979. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11110979
a burst of scientific preprints followed on 18 and 20 February Lam, T. T., Jia, N., Zhang, Y. W., Shum, M. H., Jiang, J. F., Zhu, H. C., Tong, Y. G., Shi, Y. X., Ni, X. B., Liao, Y. S., Li, W. J., Jiang, B. G., Wei, W., Yuan, T. T., Zheng, K., Cui, X. M., Li, J., Pei, G. Q., Qiang, X., Cheung, W. Y., . . . Cao, W. C. (2020). ‘Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related Coronaviruses in Malayan Pangolins’. Nature, 583(7815), 282–285. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2169-0; Xiao, K., Zhai, J., Feng, Y., Zhou, N., Zhang, X., Zou, J. J., Li, N., Guo, Y., Li, X., Shen, X., Zhang, Z., Shu, F., Huang, W., Li, Y., Zhang, Z., Chen, R. A., Wu, Y. J., Peng, S. M., Huang, M., Xie, W. J., . . . Shen, Y. (2020). ‘Isolation of SARS-CoV-2-related Coronavirus from Malayan Pangolins’. Nature, 583(7815), 286–289. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2313-x; Liu, P., Jiang, J. Z., Wan, X. F., Hua, Y., Li, L., Zhou, J., Wang, X., Hou, F., Chen, J., Zou, J., & Chen, J. (2020). ‘Are Pangolins the Intermediate Host of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)?’ PLoS Pathogens, 16(5), e1008421. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008421; Zhang, T., Wu, Q., & Zhang, Z. (2020). ‘Probable Pangolin Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with the COVID-19 Outbreak’. Current Biology : CB, 30(7), 1346–1351.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.022
this superspreader event in Boston would eventually lead to an estimated three hundred thousand cases worldwide Lara Salahi and Kaitlin McKinley Becker. ‘1 Year Later: The “Superspreader” Conference That Sparked Boston’s COVID Outbreak’. NBC. 26 February 2021. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/1-year-later-the-superspreader-conference-that-sparked-bostons-coronavirus-outbreak/2314011/
In late March, top experts who had been anticipating and watching for potentially dangerous changes Pien Huang. ‘The Coronavirus Is Mutating. But That May Not Be A Problem For Humans’. NPR Goats and Soda. 25 March 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/25/820998549/the-coronavirus-is-mutating-but-that-may-not-be-a-problem-for-humans
Ian Birrell, writing for the Mail on Sunday in London Ian Birrell. ‘Landmark Study: Virus Didn’t Come from Animals in Wuhan Market’. Mail on Sunday. 17 May 2020. http://www.ianbirrell.com/landmark-study-virus-didnt-come-from-animals-in-wuhan-market/
In the same month, the US Right to Know organisation published emails https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Pangolin_Papers_Perlman_Emails.pdf
We know from internal Chinese government documents, seen by the Associated Press Dake Kang, Maria Cheng and Sam McNeil. ‘China Clamps Down in Hidden Hunt for Coronavirus Origins’. Associated Press. 30 December 2020. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-coronavirus-pandemic-china-only-on-ap-bats-24fbadc58cee3a40bca2ddf7a14d2955
Scientists working with the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation Choo, S. W., Zhou, J., Tian, X., Zhang, S., Qiang, S., O’Brien, S. J., Tan, K. Y., Platto, S., Koepfli, K. P., Antunes, A., Sitam, F. T. (2020). ‘Are Pangolins Scapegoats of the COVID-19 Outbreak-CoV Transmission and Pathology Evidence?’ Conservation Letters, 13(6): e12754. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12754
In June 2020, Dr Peter Daszak and his collaborators reported an analysis of 334 smuggled pangolins Lee, J., Hughes, T., Lee, M. H., Field, H., Rovie-Ryan, J. J., Sitam, F. T., Sipangkui, S., Nathan, S., Ramirez, D., Kumar, S. V., Lasimbang, H., Epstein, J. H., & Daszak, P. (2020). ‘No Evidence of Coronaviruses or Other Potentially Zoonotic Viruses in Sunda Pangolins (Manis javanica) Entering the Wildlife Trade via Malaysia’. EcoHealth, 17(3), 406–418. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-020-01503-x
On 15 January 2021, the US State Department released a fact sheet US Department of State. Fact Sheet: Activity at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 15 January 2021. https://2017-2021.state.gov/fact-sheet-activity-at-the-wuhan-institute-of-virology/index.html
China announced a ban on the trade of wild animals James Gorman. ‘China’s Ban on Wildlife Trade a Big Step, But Has Loopholes, Conservationists Say’. New York Times. 27 February 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/science/coronavirus-pangolin-wildlife-ban-china.html
In October 2020, the Environmental Investigation Agency, an international watchdog, revealed that eBay and Taobao Jonathan Watts. ‘China Still Allowing Use of Pangolin Scales in Traditional Medicine’. Guardian. 12 October 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/13/china-still-allowing-use-of-pangolin-scales-in-traditional-medicine
ACTAsia, part of the Animal Care Trust non-profit organisation ‘China’s Revised Law Paves the Way for Wildlife to Become Farm Animals’. ACTAsia. 23 November 2020. https://www.actasia.org/news/chinas-revised-law-paves-the-way-for-wildlife-to-become-farm-animals/
the Environmental Investigation Agency has pointed out could be a cover Environmental Investigation Agency. ‘Commercial Pangolin Farming Will Very Likely Have a Negative Impact on Pangolin Conservation’. 30 July 2019. https://eia-international.org/news/commercial-pangolin-farming-will-very-likely-have-a-negative-impact-on-pangolin-conservation/
In April 2021, Reuters reported that pangolins continued to be trafficked David Stanway. ‘As WHO Highlights COVID Animal Origins, China Wildlife Crackdown Needs More Teeth – Experts’. 1 April 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-wildlife-idUSKBN2BO6Y3
SARS, SARS-CoV-2 and other SARS-like coronaviruses predominantly thrive in just one genus of bat Hu, B., Ge, X., Wang, L. F., & Shi, Z. (2015). ‘Bat Origin of Human Coronaviruses’. Virology Journal, 12, 221. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-015-0422-1
China is home to many horseshoe bat species http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/China%20bats/Rhinolophidae.htm
In the last few decades, no other group of animals has proved as prolific as bats Irving, A. T., Ahn, M., Goh, G., Anderson, D. E., & Wang, L. F. (2021). ‘Lessons from the Host Defences of Bats, a Unique Viral Reservoir’. Nature, 589(7842), 363–370. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03128-0
Bats have existed for an estimated fifty million years and have evolved unique immune systems Banerjee, A., Baker, M. L., Kulcsar, K., Misra, V., Plowright, R., & Mossman, K. (2020). ‘Novel Insights Into Immune Systems of Bats’. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 26. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00026
In 2018, Dr Peng Zhou, Dr Shi Zhengli and colleagues published the results of an experiment Xie, J., Li, Y., Shen, X., Goh, G., Zhu, Y., Cui, J., Wang, L. F., Shi, Z. L., & Zhou, P. (2018). ‘Dampened STING-Dependent Interferon Activation in Bats’. Cell Host & Microbe, 23(3), 297–301.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2018.01.006
a paper by an Australian team in 2018 Banerjee, A., Misra, V., Schountz, T., & Baker, M. L. (2018). ‘Tools to Study Pathogen-Host Interactions in Bats’. Virus Research, 248, 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2018.02.013
The team included Dr Linfa Wang Jane Qiu. ‘How China’s “Bat Woman” Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus’. Scientific American. 11 March 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/
The group went on to publish a review of bats and SARS Wang, L. F., Shi, Z., Zhang, S., Field, H., Daszak, P., & Eaton, B. T. (2006). ‘Review of Bats and SARS’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12(12), 1834–1840. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1212.060401
Over the next decade and more, many other influential papers from this research consortium describing novel viruses isolated from bats would follow Li, W., Shi, Z., Yu, M., Ren, W., Smith, C., Epstein, J. H., Wang, H., Crameri, G., Hu, Z., Zhang, H., Zhang, J., McEachern, J., Field, H., Daszak, P., Eaton, B. T., Zhang, S., & Wang, L. F. (2005). ‘Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-Like Coronaviruses’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 310(5748), 676–679. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1118391; Kai Kupferschmidt. ‘This Biologist Helped Trace SARS to Bats. Now, He’s Working to Uncover the Origins of COVID-19’. Science. 30 September 2020. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/biologist-helped-trace-sars-bats-now-hes-working-uncover-origins-covid-19
the EcoHealth Alliance non-profit organisation https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/about
the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) programme began in 2009 https://ohi.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/programs-projects/predict-project; See also: https://ohi.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk5251/files/inline-files/PREDICT%20LEGACY%20-%20FINAL%20FOR%20WEB_0.pdf
By 2018, the EcoHealth Alliance had grown its income to almost $17 million a year EcoHealth Alliance Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EHA-FY18-Annual-Report.pdf
One journalist, Sam Husseini, found his emails and voicemails ignored Sam Husseini. ‘Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance Has Hidden Almost $40 Million in Pentagon Funding and Militarized Pandemic Science’. Independent Science News. 16 December 2020. https://www.independentsciencenews.org/news/peter-daszaks-ecohealth-alliance-has-hidden-almost-40-million-in-pentagon-funding/
the Shitou cave near Kunming Jane Qiu. ‘How China’s “Bat Woman” Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus’. Scientific American. 11 March 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/
a paper in Nature on 30 October 2013 Ge, X. Y., Li, J. L., Yang, X. L., Chmura, A. A., Zhu, G., Epstein, J. H., Mazet, J. K., Hu, B., Zhang, W., Peng, C., Zhang, Y. J., Luo, C. M., Tan, B., Wang, N., Zhu, Y., Crameri, G., Zhang, S. Y., Wang, L. F., Daszak, P., & Shi, Z. L. (2013). ‘Isolation and Characterization of a Bat SARS-like Coronavirus That Uses the ACE2 Receptor’. Nature, 503(7477), 535–538. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12711
alpha-coronaviruses in pigs Zhou, P., Fan, H., Lan, T., Yang, X. L., Shi, W. F., Zhang, W., Zhu, Y., Zhang, Y. W., Xie, Q. M., Mani, S., Zheng, X. S., Li, B., Li, J. M., Guo, H., Pei, G. Q., An, X. P., Chen, J. W., Zhou, L., Mai, K. J., Wu, Z. X., . . . Ma, J. Y. (2018). ‘Fatal Swine Acute Diarrhoea Syndrome Caused By an HKU2-Related Coronavirus of Bat Origin’. Nature, 556(7700), 255–258. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0010-9
‘This is the first documented spillover of a bat coronavirus that caused severe diseases in domestic animals’ Cui, J., Li, F., & Shi, Z. L. (2019). ‘Origin and Evolution of Pathogenic Coronaviruses’. Nature Reviews. Microbiology, 17(3), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0118-9
In October 2015, they took blood from 139 women and 79 men living in four villages Wang, N., Li, S. Y., Yang, X. L., Huang, H. M., Zhang, Y. J., Guo, H., Luo, C. M., Miller, M., Zhu, G., Chmura, A. A., Hagan, E., Zhou, J. H., Zhang, Y. Z., Wang, L. F., Daszak, P., & Shi, Z. L. (2018). ‘Serological Evidence of Bat SARS-Related Coronavirus Infection in Humans, China’. Virologica Sinica, 33(1), 104–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-018-0012-7
Over the next two years the team repeated the survey on a wider scale Li, H., Mendelsohn, E., Zong, C., Zhang, W., Hagan, E., Wang, N., Li, S., Yan, H., Huang, H., Zhu, G., Ross, N., Chmura, A., Terry, P., Fielder, M., Miller, M., Shi, Z., & Daszak, P. (2019). ‘Human-Animal Interactions and Bat Coronavirus Spillover Potential Among Rural Residents in Southern China’. Biosafety and Health, 1(2), 84–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsheal.2019.10.004
In April 2020, in an interview with Vox Eliza Barclay. ‘Why These Scientists Still Doubt the Coronavirus Leaked From a Chinese Lab’. Vox. 29 April 2020. https://www.vox.com/2020/4/23/21226484/wuhan-lab-coronavirus-china
Dr Tian Junhua, an expert on pathogens ‘Entering the Mountain to Catch Bats in the Middle of the Night, Wuhan Experts Catch Tens of Thousands of “Worms” to Study the Virus’. Changjiang Times. 3 May 2017. http://www.changjiangtimes.com/2017/05/567037.html; Guo, W. P., Lin, X. D., Wang, W., Tian, J. H., Cong, M. L., Zhang, H. L., Wang, M. R., Zhou, R. H., Wang, J. B., Li, M. H., Xu, J., Holmes, E. C., & Zhang, Y. Z. (2013). ‘Phylogeny and Origins of Hantaviruses Harbored By Bats, Insectivores, and Rodents’. PLoS Pathogens, 9(2), e1003159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003159; see also https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Junhua-Tian-2
he claimed to have trapped nearly ten thousand bats ‘The Post-80s “Disease Control” Guy Lay Down to Watch Cockroaches at Night in Order to Carry Out Research and Catch Tens of Thousands of Insects’. Wuhan Evening News. 3 May 2017. http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2017-05/03/c_1120909064_2.htm
Dr Tian is a co-author with Dr Zhang Yongzhen in Shanghai on the Nature paper Wu, F., Zhao, S., Yu, B., Chen, Y. M., Wang, W., Song, Z. G., Hu, Y., Tao, Z. W., Tian, J. H., Pei, Y. Y., Yuan, M. L., Zhang, Y. L., Dai, F. H., Liu, Y., Wang, Q. M., Zheng, J. J., Xu, L., Holmes, E. C., & Zhang, Y. Z. (2020). ‘A New Coronavirus Associated with Human Respiratory Disease in China’. Nature, 579(7798), 265–269. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3
The withdrawn paper (speculating on possible lab origins of Covid-19) by two Wuhan scientists Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao. ‘The Possible Origins of 2019-nCoV Coronavirus’. ResearchGate preprint. 6 February 2020. Available at: https://img-prod.tgcom24.mediaset.it/images/2020/02/16/114720192-5eb8307f-017c-4075-a697-348628da0204.pdf; Guo, W. P., Lin, X. D., Wang, W., Tian, J. H., Cong, M. L., Zhang, H. L., Wang, M. R., Zhou, R. H., Wang, J. B., Li, M. H., Xu, J., Holmes, E. C., & Zhang, Y. Z. (2013). ‘Phylogeny and Origins of Hantaviruses Harbored By Bats, Insectivores, and Rodents’. PLoS Pathogens, 9(2), e1003159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003159
In 2015, the researchers got a step closer Yang, X. L., Hu, B., Wang, B., Wang, M. N., Zhang, Q., Zhang, W., Wu, L. J., Ge, X. Y., Zhang, Y. Z., Daszak, P., Wang, L. F., & Shi, Z. L. (2015). ‘Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Bat Coronavirus Closely Related to the Direct Progenitor of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus’. Journal of Virology, 90(6), 3253–3256. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.02582-15
From 2012 to 2015, a study led by Dr Zhang Yongzhen sampled 1,067 bats Lin, X. D., Wang, W., Hao, Z. Y., Wang, Z. X., Guo, W. P., Guan, X. Q., Wang, M. R., Wang, H. W., Zhou, R. H., Li, M. H., Tang, G. P., Wu, J., Holmes, E. C., & Zhang, Y. Z. (2017). ‘Extensive Diversity of Coronaviruses in Bats from China’. Virology, 507, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2017.03.019
a team of biologists from the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing Hu, D., Zhu, C., Ai, L., He, T., Wang, Y., Ye, F., Yang, L., Ding, C., Zhu, X., Lv, R., Zhu, J., Hassan, B., Feng, Y., Tan, W., & Wang, C. (2018). ‘Genomic Characterization and Infectivity of a Novel SARS-Like Coronavirus in Chinese Bats’. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 7(1), 154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41426-018-0155-5
In a 2017 interview with Xinhua News Agency Keoni Everington. ‘Video Shows Wuhan Lab Scientists Admit to Being Bitten by Bats’. Taiwan News. 15 January 2021. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4102619
In his book Spillover, David Quammen describes squirming deep into a narrow cave Quammen, David. Spillover (p. 200). Random House. Kindle Edition
Did the WIV ever keep bats in the laboratory in Wuhan? Glen Owen and Jake Ryan. ‘Revealed: Secret Bat Cages at Wuhan Lab Where Researchers Planned to Breed Animals for Virus Experiments – Despite Denials of British Scientist on the WHO Team “Investigating” the Origins of Covid’. Mail on Sunday. 13 February 2021. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9257413/Secret-bat-cages-Wuhan-lab-researchers-planned-breed-animals-virus-experiments.html
Yet in 2009 a colleague of Dr Shi’s gave an interview to Science Times ‘Shi Zhengli: A Female Scientist Accompanying the Virus’. Science Times. 10 March 2009. http://news.sciencenet.cn/sbhtmlnews/2009/3/216816.html
WIV had filed a patent on bat breeding Wuhan Institute of Virology of CAS. ‘Artificial Breeding Method for Wild Bat of Predatory Worm’. https://patents.google.com/patent/CN112205352A/en
Predict came to an end after two budget cycles costing $207 million Donald G. McNeil Jr. ‘Scientists Were Hunting for the Next Ebola. Now the U.S. Has Cut Off Their Funding’. New York Times. 25 October 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/health/predict-usaid-viruses.html
in 2018, an even more ambitious global project called the Global Virome Project (GVP) had been launched Glenn McDonald. ‘The Global Virome Project Is Hunting Hundreds of Thousands of Deadly Viruses’. The Seeker. 3 January 2018. https://www.seeker.com/health/the-global-virome-project-is-hunting-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deadly-viruses
Drs Edward Holmes, Andrew Rambaut and Kristian Andersen, published an article in Nature Holmes, E. C., Rambaut, A., & Andersen, K. G. (2018). ‘Pandemics: Spend on Surveillance, Not Prediction’. Nature, 558(7709), 180–182. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05373-w
Dr Daszak had told the Economist that approximately sixteen thousand bats had been sampled ‘The Hunt for the Origins of SARS-CoV-2 Will Look Beyond China’. Economist. 22 July 2020. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/07/22/the-hunt-for-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2-will-look-beyond-china
In the Singapore case Lim, P. L., Kurup, A., Gopalakrishna, G., Chan, K. P., Wong, C. W., Ng, L. C., Se-Thoe, S. Y., Oon, L., Bai, X., Stanton, L. W., Ruan, Y., Miller, L. D., Vega, V. B., James, L., Ooi, P. L., Kai, C. S., Olsen, S. J., Ang, B., & Leo, Y. S. (2004). ‘Laboratory-Acquired Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’. New England Journal of Medicine, 350(17), 1740–1745. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa032565; Senior K. (2003). ‘Recent Singapore SARS Case a Laboratory Accident’. Lancet. Infectious Diseases, 3(11), 679. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00815-6; See also ‘Singapore Man Acquired SARS in Government Lab, Panel Says’. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. 23 September 2003. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2003/09/singapore-man-acquired-sars-government-lab-panel-says; and Lawrence K. Altman. ‘Lab Infection Blamed for Singapore SARS Case’. New York Times. 24 September 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/world/lab-infection-blamed-for-singapore-sars-case.html
In the Taiwan case Orellana C. (2004). ‘Laboratory-Acquired SARS Raises Worries on Biosafety’. Lancet. Infectious Diseases, 4(2), 64. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1473-3099(04)00911-9; see also Sars Case in Laboratory Worker in Taiwan, China. World Health Organization. 17 December 2003. https://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_09_24/en/ (Website removed.); ‘Taiwan’s New SARS Case Raises Questions About Sloppy Procedures’. Associated Press. 17 December 2003. https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-12-17-singapore-sars_x.htm; Martin Furmanski. ‘Threatened Pandemics and Laboratory Escapes: Self-Fulfilling Prophecies’. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 31 March 2014. https://thebulletin.org/2014/03/threatened-pandemics-and-laboratory-escapes-self-fulfilling-prophecies/; ‘Taiwanese SARS Researcher Infected’. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. 17 December 2003. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2003/12/taiwanese-sars-researcher-infected; Wen-Chao Wu, Li-Li Lee and Ho-Sheng Wu. ‘Audit Report for Laboratories of Biosafety Level 3 and Higher in Taiwan, 2007’. Taiwan Epidemiology Bulletin. 25 July 2008. https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En/File/Get/53fRU0drzfunw22tKaDplw; ‘Taiwan Sars Man “Feared Shame”’. BBC. 19 December 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3333775.stm; ‘No SARS Reported in Taiwan Patient’s Contacts’. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. 22 December 2003. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2003/12/no-sars-reported-taiwan-patients-contacts; and Wen-Chao Wu, Li-Li Lee, Wei-Fong Chen, Shih-Yan Yang, Ho-Sheng Wu, Wen-Yi Shih and Steve Hsu-Sung Kuo. ‘Development of Laboratory Biosafety Management: The Taiwan Experience’. Applied Biosafety. 12:18–25 2007. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1177/153567600701200104
the Beijing lab leaks of SARS in early 2004 Parry J. (2004). ‘Chinese Authorities on Alert as SARS Breaks Out Again’. BMJ (Clinical Research ed.), 328(7447), 1034. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7447.1034; see also Walgate, R. ‘SARS Escaped Beijing Lab Twice’. Genome Biol 4, spotlight-20040427-03 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-spotlight-20040427-03; Parry J. (2004). ‘Breaches of Safety Regulations Are Probable Cause of Recent SARS Outbreak, WHO Says’. BMJ (Clinical Research ed.), 328(7450), 1222. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1222-b; Liang, W. N., Zhao, T., Liu, Z. J., Guan, B. Y., He, X., Liu, M., Chen, Q., Liu, G. F., Wu, J., Huang, R. G., Xie, X. Q., & Wu, Z. L. (2006). ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Retrospect and Lessons of 2004 Outbreak in China’. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences : BES, 19(6), 445–451; WHO SARS Risk Assessment and Preparedness Framework. World Health Organization. October 2004. https://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/CDS_CSR_ARO_2004_2.pdf?ua=1; China’s Latest SARS Outbreak Has Been Contained, But Biosafety Concerns Remain – Update 7. World Health Organization. 18 May 2004. (Website removed.) https://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_05_18a/en/. https://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_04_22/en/; Jim Yardley and Lawrence K. Altman. ‘China Is Scrambling to Curb SARS Cases After a Death’. New York Times. 24 April 2004. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/world/china-is-scrambling-to-curb-sars-cases-after-a-death.html
After this episode, the director of the Chinese CDC and several officials resigned Lei Du and Martin Enserink. ‘SARS Crisis Topples China Lab Chief’. Science. 2 July 2004. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2004/07/sars-crisis-topples-china-lab-chief
a previously undisclosed US intelligence report was leaked to the Wall Street Journal Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel and Drew Hinshaw. ‘Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin’. Wall Street Journal. 23 May 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/intelligence-on-sick-staff-at-wuhan-lab-fuels-debate-on-covid-19-origin-11621796228
According to a former State Department official, David Asher, the wife of one worker died Ian Birrell. ‘“A Lab Leak Isn’t 100% Certain But It Seems to Be the Only Logical Source of Covid”: Washington Expert Who Led Inquiry into the Cause of the Virus Reveals Three Wuhan Lab Scientists Fell Ill in November 2019’. Mail on Sunday. 27 March 2021
early in the pandemic a senior scientist at a Beijing research institute was infected with SARS-CoV-2 Sainath Suryanarayanan. ‘Senior Chinese Scientist Acquired SARS-CoV-2 in Lab Infection Accident, Virologist Says’. US Right to Know. 5 August 2021. https://usrtk.org/biohazards/senior-chinese-scientist-acquired-sars-cov-2-in-lab-infection-accident/
the New York Times reported a story of leopards Chris Buckley. ‘Was That a Giant Cat? Leopards Escape, and a Zoo Keeps Silent (at First)’. New York Times. 10 May 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/world/asia/china-zoo-leopards.html; see also ‘Chinese Safari Park Concealed Leopards’ Escape for 2 Weeks’. Associated Press. 10 May 2021. https://apnews.com/article/china-travel-lifestyle-2070394ea87488bd6fab17e39fe6d6f4
In 2003, in Kunming, Yunnan, laboratory rats infected students with a form of hantavirus Zhang, Y., Zhang, H., Dong, X., Yuan, J., Zhang, H., Yang, X., Zhou, P., Ge, X., Li, Y., Wang, L. F., & Shi, Z. (2010). ‘Hantavirus Outbreak Associated with Laboratory Rats in Yunnan, China’. Infection, Genetics and Evolution: Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases, 10(5), 638–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2010.03.015
In Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province in the north-west of the country ‘10,528 Residents Test Positive for Brucellosis in Lanzhou after Brucella Leakage in Local Factory’. Global Times. 3 December 2020. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1208864.shtml; see also ‘Over 6,000 People in China’s Lanzhou Test Positive for Brucellosis: State Media’. Reuters. 5 November 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-brucellosis-china/over-6000-people-in-chinas-lanzhou-test-positive-for-brucellosis-state-media-idUSKBN27L1LA; Jessie Yeung and Eric Cheung. ‘Bacterial Outbreak Infects Thousands After Factory Leak in China’. CNN. 17 September 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/asia/china-brucellosis-outbreak-intl-hnk/index.html; and ‘Explainer: How Thousands in China Got Infected by Brucellosis in One Single Outbreak’. Channel News Asia. 6 November 2020. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/china-brucellosis-disease-outbreak-lanzhou-13478438
Biosecurity lapses happen in other countries Martin Furmanski. ‘Laboratory Escapes and “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” Epidemics’. Armscontrolcenter.org. 17 February 2014. https://armscontrolcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Escaped-Viruses-final-2-17-14-copy.pdf
In 2019, research was shut down due to inadequate wastewater decontamination practices at laboratories at Fort Detrick, the United States’ army biomedical and research facility Tom Bowman. ‘Fort Detrick: From Biowarfare to Biodefense’. NPR. 1 August 2008. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93196647; see also Denise Grady. ‘Deadly Germ Research Is Shut Down at Army Lab Over Safety Concerns’. New York Times. 5 August 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/health/germs-fort-detrick-biohazard.html
In March 2021, Alison Young, a journalist who has been tracking lab leaks since 2007, published a scorching article in USA Today Alison Young. ‘Could an Accident Have Caused COVID-19? Why the Wuhan Lab-Leak Theory Shouldn’t Be Dismissed’. USA Today. 22 March 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2021/03/22/why-covid-lab-leak-theory-wuhan-shouldnt-dismissed-column/4765985001/; see also Alison Young. ‘Hundreds of Bioterror Lab Mishaps Cloaked in Secrecy’. USA Today. 17 August 2014. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/17/reports-of-incidents-at-bioterror-select-agent-labs/14140483/
Smallpox escaped from laboratories in the United Kingdom three separate times Monica Rimmer. ‘How Smallpox Claimed Its Final Victim’. BBC. 10 August 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-45101091; see also ‘Report of the Investigation into the Cause of the 1978 Birmingham Smallpox Occurrence’. 22 July 1980. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228654/0668.pdf
Foot-and-mouth virus escaped from a laboratory at Pirbright Peter Walker. ‘Foot and Mouth Reports Blame Lab Site Drains’. Guardian. 7 September 2007. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/sep/07/footandmouth.immigrationpolicy
Marburg was first discovered after it infected laboratory workers in Germany ‘Outbreaks Chronology: Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever’. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/marburg/outbreaks/chronology.html
Anthrax, a bacterium, escaped from a biological-warfare laboratory in the city of Sverdlosk ‘The 1979 Anthrax Leak’. PBS Frontline. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sverdlovsk/. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sverdlovsk/alibekov.html; https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/interviews/alibekov.html
anthrax spores were sent through the mail ‘Timeline: How The Anthrax Terror Unfolded’. National Public Radio. 15 February 2011. https://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/93170200/timeline-how-the-anthrax-terror-unfolded; see also Stephen Engelberg. ‘New Evidence Adds Doubt to FBI’s Case Against Anthrax Suspect’. ProPublica. 10 October 2011. https://www.propublica.org/article/new-evidence-disputes-case-against-bruce-e-ivins; and Stephen Engelberg, Greg Gordon, Jim Gilmore and Mike Wiser. ‘Did Bruce Ivins Hide Attack Anthrax from the FBI?’ PBS Frontline. 10 October 2011. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/did-bruce-ivins-hide-attack-anthrax-from-the-fbi/
In an article in 2015, Alison Young revealed Alison Young. ‘Inside America’s Secretive Biolabs’. USA Today. 28 May 2015. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/28/biolabs-pathogens-location-incidents/26587505/
An Influenza A (H1N1) strain of flu swept the world in 1977 Nakajima, K., Desselberger, U., & Palese, P. (1978). ‘Recent Human Influenza A (H1N1) Viruses Are Closely Related Genetically to Strains Isolated in 1950’. Nature, 274(5669), 334–339. https://doi.org/10.1038/274334a0
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences published a paper in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization in 1978 Kung, H. C., Jen, K. F., Yuan, W. C., Tien, S. F., & Chu, C. M. (1978). ‘Influenza in China in 1977: Recurrence of Influenzavirus A Subtype H1N1’. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 56(6), 913–918
Dr Michelle Rozo and Dr Gigi Kwik Gronvall at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland, reanalysed genetic sequences from the 1977 isolates Rozo, M., & Gronvall, G. K. (2015). ‘The Reemergent 1977 H1N1 Strain and the Gain-of-Function Debate’. mBio, 6(4), e01013-15. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01013-15
Dr Martin Furmanski of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, DC, disagreed Furmanski M. (2015). ‘The 1977 H1N1 Influenza Virus Reemergence Demonstrated Gain-of-Function Hazards’. mBio, 6(5), e01434-15. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01434-15
On 3 February 2020, an official letter seeking help in determining the origins of the novel coronavirus OSTP Coronavirus Request to NASEM_02.06.2020.pdf. 3 February 2020. https://www.nationalacademies.org/documents/link/LD006CF17B5004C7B41F63CD7E0A0F4EDF738C451F32/fileview/D20D1390AB906330493E8A40B27E965A6761F4117EA2/OSTP%20Coronavirus%20Request%20to%20NASEM_02.06.2020.pdf?hide=thumbs+breadcrumbs+favs+props+nextprev+sidebar+pin+actions&scheme=light&fitwidth
a preprint titled ‘Uncanny Similarity of Unique Inserts in the 2019-nCoV Spike Protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag’ Prashant Pradhan, Ashutosh Kumar Pandey, Akhilesh Mishra, Parul Gupta, Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Manoj Balakrishnan Menon, James Gomes, Perumal Vivekanandan, Bishwajit Kundu. ‘Uncanny Similarity of Unique Inserts in the 2019-nCoV Spike Protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag’. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology. 2020.01.30.927871 [withdrawn]
Dr Shi Zhengli from the WIV posted a furious response Yang Rui, Feng Yuding, Zhao Jinchao. ‘Exclusive | Shi Zhengli Responds to Questions. Experts Agree that the Novel Coronavirus Is Not Artificial’. Caixin. 5 February 2020. https://www.caixin.com/2020-02-05/101511817.html
Email exchanges among the convened experts were later obtained via Freedom of Information Sainath Suryanarayanan. ‘New Emails Show Scientists’ Deliberations On How To Discuss SARS-CoV-2 Origins’. US Right to Know. 14 December 2020. https://usrtk.org/tag/covid-19/
On 1 December, Dr Bedford reaffirmed his stance @trvrb Twitter. 1 December 2020. https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1333885880054910976; see also @trvrb Twitter. 16 December 2020. https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1339267459061227521
From a separate batch of FOI’ed emails by US Right to Know https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Biohazard_FOIA_Maryland_Emails_11.6.20.pdf
the emails unearthed months later by US Right to Know came as a surprise Sainath Suryanarayanan. ‘EcoHealth Alliance Orchestrated Key Scientists’ Statement on “Natural Origin” of SARS-CoV-2’. US Right to Know. 18 November 2020. https://usrtk.org/biohazards-blog/ecohealth-alliance-orchestrated-key-scientists-statement-on-natural-origin-of-sars-cov-2/
The reason for their absence was once again revealed by more emails obtained by US Right to Know https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Baric_Daszak_email.pdf
the Lancet published an addendum Editors of the Lancet. ‘Addendum: Competing Interests and the Origins of SARS-CoV-2’. Lancet. 21 June 2021. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01377-5/fulltext
The Hubei Wildlife Rescue Centre Michael Standaert. ‘Wuhan Facilities Shed Light on China’s Oversight on Wildlife Use’. Aljazeera. 27 August 2021. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/27/wuhan-facilities-sheds-light-on-chinas-problematic-oversight-of
A short distance away is the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products http://en.sasac.gov.cn/2020/08/10/c_5352.htm
As Dr Shi clarified to Science magazine in July 2020 Shi Zhengli. ‘Reply to Science Magazine’. 24 July 2020. https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Shi%20Zhengli%20Q%26A.pdf
As Dr Ralph Baric told the MIT Technology Review Rowan Jacobsen. ‘“We Never Created a Supervirus.” Ralph Baric Explains Gain-of-Function Research’. MIT Technology Review. 26 July 2021. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/26/1030043/gain-of-function-research-coronavirus-ralph-baric-vaccines/
China long had ambitions to host a BSL-4 laboratory David Cyranoski. ‘China to Permit Lab Poised to Study World’s Most Dangerous Pathogens’. Scientific American. 22 February 2017. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-to-permit-lab-poised-to-study-worlds-most-dangerous-pathogens/
A Paris correspondent of the American Spectator, Joseph Harriss, wrote Joseph A. Harriss. ‘The Suspect French Lab in Wuhan’. American Spectator. 4 May 2020. https://spectator.org/the-suspect-french-lab-in-wuhan/
In January 2021, the US State Department under the Trump administration released a statement Mike Pompeo. Ensuring a Transparent, Thorough Investigation of Covid-19’s Origin. US Department of State. 15 January 2021. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20210116020513/; https://www.state.gov/ensuring-a-transparent-thorough-investigation-of-covid-19s-origin/
read a joint memo from the two institutions Le Duc, J. W., & Yuan, Z. (2018). ‘Network for Safe and Secure Labs’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 362(6412), 267. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav7120; see also ‘The US Counselor visited Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS’. Wuhan Institute of Virology. 3 April 2018. http://english.whiov.cas.cn/Exchange2016/Foreign_Visits/201804/t20180403_191334.html. Available here: https://archive.is/6lc3C
Some of these were leaked to Josh Rogin of the Washington Post in April 2020 Josh Rogin. ‘State Department Cables Warned of Safety Issues at Wuhan Lab Studying Bat Coronaviruses’. Washington Post. 14 April 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
One of the cables, drafted by two officials from the US embassy’s environment, science and health sections and sent on 19 January 2018 https://foia.state.gov/Search/Results.aspx?searchText=&beginDate=&endDate=&publishedBeginDate=20200716&publishedEndDate=20200716&caseNumber=
One of the authors of the cables told Rogin Josh Rogin. ‘In 2018, Diplomats Warned of Risky Coronavirus Experiments in a Wuhan Lab. No One Listened’. Politico. 8 March 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin-chaos-under-heaven-wuhan-lab-book-excerpt-474322
Dr Yuan Zhiming, chair of the institutional biosafety committee at the WIV, published an article Yuan Zhiming. ‘The Interacademy Partnership’. https://www.interacademies.org/person/yuan-zhiming; see also Zhiming Y. (2019). ‘Current Status and Future Challenges of High-Level Biosafety Laboratories in China’. Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity, 1(2), 123–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobb.2019.09.005
the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘Announcement of Single Source Procurement Method of Hazardous Chemical Waste Disposal Procurement Project in Laboratory of the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention’. 27 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20200510182006/https://www.whcdc.org/index.php/view/11147.html
the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology issued new biosafety rules Caiyu Liu and Shumei Leng. ‘Biosafety Guideline Issued to Fix Chronic Management Loopholes at Virus Labs’. Global Times. 16 February 2020. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1179747.shtml; see also Kinling Lo. ‘China Tightens Laboratory Animal Rules Amid Calls for Coronavirus Lab-Leak Probe’. South China Morning Post. 5 August 2021. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3144005/china-tightens-lab-animal-rules-amid-calls-covid-19-laboratory
a comprehensive 61.5 MB online database https://archive.is/jPPkB#selection-1359.74-1367.353; see also Anonymous OSINT Contributor, Billy Bostickson, Gilles Demaneuf. ‘An Investigation into the WIV Databases That Were Taken Offline’. ResearchGate preprint. February 2021. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349073738_An_investigation_into_the_WIV_databases_that_were_taken_offline
A summary paper by the WIV and the EcoHealth Alliance published in 2020 listed 630 novel coronaviruses Latinne, A., Hu, B., Olival, K. J., Zhu, G., Zhang, L., Li, H., Chmura, A. A., Field, H. E., Zambrana-Torrelio, C., Epstein, J. H., Li, B., Zhang, W., Wang, L. F., Shi, Z. L., & Daszak, P. (2020). ‘Origin and Cross-Species Transmission of Bat Coronaviruses in China’. Nature Communications, 11(1), 4235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17687-3
an interview in early December 2019 TWiV 615: Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance. Video Report. 19 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdYDL_RK--w&t=1700s
USAID discovered when it reviewed the work in 2017 ‘USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats 2 Program Evaluation’. USAID. March 2018. https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00SW1M.pdf
the WIV had received funding from the European Virus Archive Global (EVAg) project, which had a mission to ‘collect, amplify, characterize, standardize and authenticate viruses to develop and maintain the largest active globally accessible virus archive’ Parliamentary questions. European Parliament. 26 January 2021. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-005963-ASW_EN.html; see also https://www.european-virus-archive.com/faqs
The discovery of how the database went offline in September 2019 https://archive.is/jE9iy; https://archive.is/9MNVZ; https://extendsclass.com/csv-editor.html#efcaafd; https://archive.is/Sz1dO#selection-1365.0-1373.96; https://archive.is/jPPkB#selection-1387.0-1395.28; https://archive.is/AGtFv; https://archive.is/JZrh6#selection-941.200-941.437. See also Stéphane Foucart. ‘Les silences de la Chine, un virus repéré dès 2013, la fausse piste du pangolin . . . Enquête sur les origines du SARS-CoV-2’. Le Monde. 22 December 2020. https://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2020/12/22/a-l-origine-de-la-pandemie-de-covid-19-un-virus-sars-cov-2-aux-sources-toujours-enigmatiques_6064168_1650684.html; and Miranda Devine. ‘What Is China Covering Up About the Coronavirus?’ New York Post. 6 May 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/05/06/what-is-china-covering-up-about-the-coronavirus-devine/
Dr Shi told the BBC in December 2020 John Sudworth. ‘Covid: Wuhan Scientist Would “Welcome” Visit Probing Lab Leak Theory’. BBC. 21 December 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55364445
Billy Bostickson, even phrased a question for other scientists to ask @BillyBostickson Twitter. 23 December 2020. https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1341624212612497409
Dr Daszak was a participant in a public webinar @McWLuke Twitter. 10 March 2021. https://twitter.com/McWLuke/status/1369686004924309504
He told the New York Times Jennifer Kahn. ‘How Scientists Could Stop the Next Pandemic Before It Starts’. New York Times. 21 April 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/magazine/pandemic-vaccine.html
One of the most lethal strains, known as influenza A H5N1 https://www.who.int/home/cms-decommissioning (https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/influenza-h5n1)
In May 2012, Dr Yoshihiro Kawaoka’s research group Imai, M., Watanabe, T., Hatta, M., Das, S. C., Ozawa, M., Shinya, K., Zhong, G., Hanson, A., Katsura, H., Watanabe, S., Li, C., Kawakami, E., Yamada, S., Kiso, M., Suzuki, Y., Maher, E. A., Neumann, G., & Kawaoka, Y. (2012). ‘Experimental Adaptation of an Influenza H5 HA Confers Respiratory Droplet Transmission to a Reassortant H5 HA/H1N1 Virus in Ferrets’. Nature, 486(7403), 420–428. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10831
Dr Ron Fouchier at Erasmus University in Rotterdam published a similar paper Herfst, S., Schrauwen, E. J., Linster, M., Chutinimitkul, S., de Wit, E., Munster, V. J., Sorrell, E. M., Bestebroer, T. M., Burke, D. F., Smith, D. J., Rimmelzwaan, G. F., Osterhaus, A. D., & Fouchier, R. A. (2012). ‘Airborne Transmission of Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 336(6088), 1534–1541. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213362
Dr Fouchier told the New York Times Denise Grady and Donald G. McNeil Jr. ‘Debate Persists on Deadly Flu Made Airborne’. 26 December 2011. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/science/debate-persists-on-deadly-flu-made-airborne.html
On 20 December 2011, the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity Press Statement on the NSABB Review of H5N1 Research. National Institutes of Health. 20 December 2011. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/press-statement-nsabb-review-h5n1-research; see also Mikaela Conley. ‘Dutch Scientist Agrees to Omit Published Details of Highly Contagious Bird Flu Findings’. ABC News. 21 December 2011. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/dutch-scientist-agrees-omit-details-killer-bird-flu/story?id=15204649
Drs Francis Collins, Anthony Fauci and Gary Nabel from the NIH posited that ‘new data provide valuable insights Anthony Fauci, Gary Nabel and Francis Collins. ‘A Flu Virus Risk Worth Taking’. Washington Post. 30 December 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-flu-virus-risk-worth-taking/2011/12/30/gIQAM9sNRP_story.html
a New York Times editorial on 7 January 2012 ‘An Engineered Doomsday’. New York Times. 7 January 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/an-engineered-doomsday.html
Dr Fouchier and Dr Kawaoka joined other scientists around the world in declaring a voluntary and temporary sixty-day moratorium on further experiments Fouchier, R. A., García-Sastre, A., Kawaoka, Y., Barclay, W. S., Bouvier, N. M., Brown, I. H., Capua, I., Chen, H., Compans, R. W., Couch, R. B., Cox, N. J., Doherty, P. C., Donis, R. O., Feldmann, H., Guan, Y., Katz, J., Klenk, H. D., Kobinger, G., Liu, J., Liu, X., . . . Webster, R. G. (2012). ‘Pause on Avian Flu Transmission Research’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 335(6067), 400–401. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.335.6067.400
a laboratory at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China successfully mixed a duck isolate of H5N1 with the 2009 H1N1 flu virus Zhang, Y., Zhang, Q., Kong, H., Jiang, Y., Gao, Y., Deng, G., Shi, J., Tian, G., Liu, L., Liu, J., Guan, Y., Bu, Z., & Chen, H. (2013). ‘H5N1 Hybrid Viruses Bearing 2009/H1N1 Virus Genes Transmit in Guinea Pigs by Respiratory Droplet’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 340(6139), 1459–1463. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1229455
a run of three mistakes involving smallpox, anthrax and the bird flu virus in US laboratories Jocelyn Kaiser. ‘Lab Incidents Lead to Safety Crackdown at CDC’. Science. 11 July 2014. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/07/lab-incidents-lead-safety-crackdown-cdc
Dr Marc Lipsitch had organised the Cambridge Working Group http://www.cambridgeworkinggroup.org/about
Dr Steven Salzberg, an influenza researcher at Johns Hopkins University http://www.cambridgeworkinggroup.org/documents/salzberg.pdf
By October 2014, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy had announced a funding moratorium ‘US Government Gain-of-Function Deliberative Process and Research Funding Pause on Selected Gain-of-Function Research Involving Influenza, MERS, and SARS Viruses’. 17 October 2014. https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/documents/gain-of-function.pdf; see also Nell Greenfieldboyce. ‘How a Tilt Toward Safety Stopped a Scientist’s Virus Research’. NPR. 7 November 2014. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/11/07/361219361/how-a-tilt-toward-safety-stopped-a-scientists-virus-research; and ‘Gain-of-Function Deliberative Process Written Public Comments. Oct. 19, 2014 – Jun. 8, 2016’. https://osp.od.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gain_of_Function_Deliberative_Process_Written_Public_Comments.pdf
reverse genetics https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21843/
In 1995, he published a book chapter about mouse hepatitis virus Baric, R. S., Fu, K., Chen, W., & Yount, B. (1995). ‘High Recombination and Mutation Rates in Mouse Hepatitis Virus Suggest That Coronaviruses May Be Potentially Important Emerging Viruses’. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 380, 571–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1899-0_91
a ‘no-see’m’ method, patented in 2006 ‘Methods and Compositions for Infectious cDNA of SARS Coronavirus’. JUSTIA Patents. 19 January 2006. https://patents.justia.com/patent/20060240530; see also Yount, B., Denison, M. R., Weiss, S. R., & Baric, R. S. (2002). ‘Systematic Assembly of a Full-Length Infectious cDNA of Mouse Hepatitis Virus Strain A59’. Journal of Virology, 76(21), 11065–11078. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.76.21.11065-11078.2002
used from at least 2016 by the WIV scientists in some of their experiments Zeng, L. P., Gao, Y. T., Ge, X. Y., Zhang, Q., Peng, C., Yang, X. L., Tan, B., Chen, J., Chmura, A. A., Daszak, P., & Shi, Z. L. (2016). ‘Bat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Like Coronavirus WIV1 Encodes an Extra Accessory Protein, ORFX, Involved in Modulation of the Host Immune Response’. Journal of Virology, 90(14), 6573–6582. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.03079-15
it took coronavirus experts in Europe and America Thi Nhu Thao, T., Labroussaa, F., Ebert, N., V’kovski, P., Stalder, H., Portmann, J., Kelly, J., Steiner, S., Holwerda, M., Kratzel, A., Gultom, M., Schmied, K., Laloli, L., Hüsser, L., Wider, M., Pfaender, S., Hirt, D., Cippà, V., Crespo-Pomar, S., Schröder, S., . . . Thiel, V. (2020). ‘Rapid Reconstruction of SARS-CoV-2 Using a Synthetic Genomics Platform’. Nature, 582(7813), 561–565. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2294-9; see also Xie, X., Muruato, A., Lokugamage, K. G., Narayanan, K., Zhang, X., Zou, J., Liu, J., Schindewolf, C., Bopp, N. E., Aguilar, P. V., Plante, K. S., Weaver, S. C., Makino, S., LeDuc, J. W., Menachery, V. D., & Shi, P. Y. (2020). ‘An Infectious cDNA Clone of SARS-CoV-2’. Cell Host & Microbe, 27(5), 841–848.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.004
In 2007, Dr Shi published a paper announcing her arrival Ren, W., Qu, X., Li, W., Han, Z., Yu, M., Zhou, P., Zhang, S. Y., Wang, L. F., Deng, H., & Shi, Z. (2008). ‘Difference in Receptor Usage Between Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus and SARS-like Coronavirus of Bat Origin’. Journal of Virology, 82(4), 1899–1907. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01085-07
researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands had done a similar reverse genetics experiment Kuo, L., Godeke, G. J., Raamsman, M. J., Masters, P. S., & Rottier, P. J. (2000). ‘Retargeting of Coronavirus By Substitution of the Spike Glycoprotein Ectodomain: Crossing the Host Cell Species Barrier’. Journal of Virology, 74(3), 1393–1406. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.74.3.1393-1406.2000
The Baric group published an even more ground-breaking experiment Rockx, B., Sheahan, T., Donaldson, E., Harkema, J., Sims, A., Heise, M., Pickles, R., Cameron, M., Kelvin, D., & Baric, R. (2007). ‘Synthetic Reconstruction of Zoonotic and Early Human Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Isolates That Produce Fatal Disease in Aged Mice’. Journal of Virology, 81(14), 7410–7423. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00505-07; see also Dyer O. (2003). ‘Two Strains of the SARS Virus Sequenced’. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 326(7397), 999
Dr Raymond Pickles, had by now ingeniously managed to culture the cells that line the human respiratory tract Sims, A. C., Baric, R. S., Yount, B., Burkett, S. E., Collins, P. L., & Pickles, R. J. (2005). ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection of Human Ciliated Airway Epithelia: Role of Ciliated Cells in Viral Spread in the Conducting Airways of the Lungs’. Journal of Virology, 79(24), 15511–15524. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.79.24.15511-15524.2005
the creation of ‘humanised’ mice to accurately and rapidly study diseases such as SARS Jia, H., Yue, X., & Lazartigues, E. (2020). ‘ACE2 Mouse Models: A Toolbox for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research’. Nature Communications, 11(1), 5165. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18880-0; see also Rowan Jacobsen. ‘Inside the Risky Bat-Virus Engineering That Links America to Wuhan’. MIT Technology Review. 29 June 2021. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/29/1027290/gain-of-function-risky-bat-virus-engineering-links-america-to-wuhan/; Sun, S. H., Chen, Q., Gu, H. J., Yang, G., Wang, Y. X., Huang, X. Y., Liu, S. S., Zhang, N. N., Li, X. F., Xiong, R., Guo, Y., Deng, Y. Q., Huang, W. J., Liu, Q., Liu, Q. M., Shen, Y. L., Zhou, Y., Yang, X., Zhao, T. Y., Fan, C. F., . . . Wang, Y. C. (2020). ‘A Mouse Model of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Pathogenesis’. Cell Host & Microbe, 28(1), 124–133.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.05.020
A seminal 2008 paper by Dr Baric and Dr Mark Denison Becker, M. M., Graham, R. L., Donaldson, E. F., Rockx, B., Sims, A. C., Sheahan, T., Pickles, R. J., Corti, D., Johnston, R. E., Baric, R. S., & Denison, M. R. (2008). ‘Synthetic Recombinant Bat SARS-Like Coronavirus Is Infectious in Cultured Cells and in Mice’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(50), 19944–19949. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0808116105
Dr Baric met Dr Shi at a scientific meeting Rowan Jacobsen. ‘Inside the Risky Bat-Virus Engineering That Links America to Wuhan’. MIT Technology Review. 29 June 2021. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/29/1027290/gain-of-function-risky-bat-virus-engineering-links-america-to-wuhan/
In the words of Dr Daszak ‘TWiV 615: Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance’. Video Report. 19 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdYDL_RK--w&t=1700s
Dr Vineet Menachery, then a postdoctoral researcher in Baric’s lab Menachery, V. D., Yount, B. L., Jr, Debbink, K., Agnihothram, S., Gralinski, L. E., Plante, J. A., Graham, R. L., Scobey, T., Ge, X. Y., Donaldson, E. F., Randell, S. H., Lanzavecchia, A., Marasco, W. A., Shi, Z. L., & Baric, R. S. (2015). ‘A SARS-Like Cluster of Circulating Bat Coronaviruses Shows Potential for Human Emergence’. Nature Medicine, 21(12), 1508–1513. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3985
An article in Nature quoted virologists Declan Butler. ‘Engineered Bat Virus Stirs Debate Over Risky Research’. Nature. 12 November 2015. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.18787; see also: Jef Akst. ‘Lab-Made Coronavirus Triggers Debate’. The Scientist. 16 November 2015. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/lab-made-coronavirus-triggers-debate-34502
the EcoHealth Alliance won a five-year, multi-million-dollar grant from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ‘Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence’. NIH Report. https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8674931; see also https://taggs.hhs.gov/Detail/AwardDetail?arg_AwardNum=R01AI110964&arg_ProgOfficeCode=104
One project funded by this grant resulted in a 2017 paper in the journal PLoS Pathogens Hu, B., Zeng, L. P., Yang, X. L., Ge, X. Y., Zhang, W., Li, B., Xie, J. Z., Shen, X. R., Zhang, Y. Z., Wang, N., Luo, D. S., Zheng, X. S., Wang, M. N., Daszak, P., Wang, L. F., Cui, J., & Shi, Z. L. (2017). ‘Discovery of a Rich Gene Pool of Bat SARS-Related Coronaviruses Provides New Insights into the Origin of SARS Coronavirus’. PLoS Pathogens, 13(11), e1006698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006698
civet farm in Kunming Yuewei Wu. ‘Interview with “Virus Hunter”: All Genes of SARS Virus Were Found in a Bat Cave in Kunming’. The Paper. 8 December 2017. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1897724 (archived at https://archive.is/Zgw7b)
It is not clear if Dr Hu’s work, funded by the NIH, fell under the type of gain-of-function research for which new US federal funding had been paused ‘US Government Gain-of-Function Deliberative Process and Research Funding Pause on Selected Gain-of-Function Research Involving Influenza, MERS, and SARS Viruses’. 17 October 2014. https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/documents/gain-of-function.pdf; see also Noah Y. Kim. ‘No, Dr. Anthony Fauci Did Not Fund Research Tied to COVID-19 “Creation”’. PolitiFact. 8 February 2021. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/08/worldnetdaily/no-dr-anthony-fauci-did-not-fund-research-tied-cov/
the NIH announced that funding of gain-of-function experiments involving influenza, MERS and SARS would resume under a new framework Department of Health and Human Services Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens. Public Health Emergency. https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Pages/p3co.aspx; see also Burki T. (2018). ‘Ban on Gain-Of-Function Studies Ends’. Lancet. Infectious Diseases, 18(2), 148–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30006-9
Dr Shi’s group at the WIV, holding at any time numerous such grants and sharing funding with other top labs Shi Zhengli. Curriculum Vitae. November 2017. https://www.ws-virology.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Zhengli-Shi.pdf
Dr Hu in Dr Shi’s lab received a further 250,000 yuan grant https://archive.vn/DdnaA#selection-1165.0-1165.96
In 2018, a further large five-year grant was announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1363218267863539712.html; https://archive.is/spmNg
Dr Shi’s own group were also to receive funding Latinne, A., Hu, B., Olival, K. J., Zhu, G., Zhang, L., Li, H., Chmura, A. A., Field, H. E., Zambrana-Torrelio, C., Epstein, J. H., Li, B., Zhang, W., Wang, L. F., Shi, Z. L., & Daszak, P. (2020). ‘Origin and Cross-Species Transmission of Bat Coronaviruses in China’. Nature Communications, 11(1), 4235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17687-3
sporadic cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus ‘Vaccine-derived Poliovirus’. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/polio/hcp/vaccine-derived-poliovirus-faq.html
recent African swine fever outbreaks in China had been caused by unlicensed vaccines ‘New China Swine Fever Strains Point to Unlicensed Vaccines’. Channel News Asia. 22 January 2021. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/african-swine-fever-pork-china-disease-outbreak-vaccine-14017538
Dr Baric’s team was trying to get around this limitation of live vaccines Graham, R. L., Deming, D. J., Deming, M. E., Yount, B. L., & Baric, R. S. (2018). ‘Evaluation of a Recombination-Resistant Coronavirus as a Broadly Applicable, Rapidly Implementable Vaccine Platform’. Communications Biology, 1, 179. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0175-7
It would be other kinds of novel vaccines ‘Vaccine Types’. HHS. https://www.hhs.gov/immunization/basics/types/index.html
Dr Limeng Yan had previously worked on influenza vaccines and is a co-first author on a Nature paper Sia, S. F., Yan, L. M., Chin, A., Fung, K., Choy, K. T., Wong, A., Kaewpreedee, P., Perera, R., Poon, L., Nicholls, J. M., Peiris, M., & Yen, H. L. (2020). ‘Pathogenesis and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Golden Hamsters’. Nature, 583(7818), 834–838. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2342-5
According to stories on Fox News Barnini Chakraborty and Alex Diaz. ‘Exclusive: Chinese Virologist Accuses Beijing of Coronavirus Cover-Up, Flees Hong Kong: “I know How They Treat Whistleblowers”’. Fox News. 10 July 2020. https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-virologist-coronavirus-cover-up-flee-hong-kong-whistleblower
in the New York Times (November 2020) Amy Qin, Vivian Wang and Danny Hakim. ‘How Steve Bannon and a Chinese Billionaire Created a Right-Wing Coronavirus Media Sensation’. New York Times. 20 November 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html
Dr Yan’s escape story revealed a problem that one of us (Alina) pointed out @ayjchan Twitter. 16 September 2020. https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1306398565363744772; see also Alex Ward. ‘The Bogus Steve Bannon-Backed Study Claiming China Created the Coronavirus, Explained’. Vox. 18 September 2020. https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/21439865/coronavirus-china-study-bannon
In a blog post at the end of June 2020, Dr Lucey had himself published questions Daniel R. Lucey. ‘COVID-19: Eight Questions for the WHO Team Going to China Next Week to Investigate Pandemic Origins’. Science Speaks: Global ID News. 30 June 2020. https://sciencespeaksblog.org/2020/06/30/covid-19-covid-eight-questions-for-the-who-team-going-to-china-next-week-to-investigate-pandemic-origins/
Dr Yan published a lengthy preprint that month Yan, Li-Meng, Kang, Shu, Guan, Jie, & Hu, Shanchang. (2020, 14 September). ‘Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route’. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4028830
Within a month, Dr Yan had released another preprint Yan, Li-Meng, Kang, Shu, Guan, Jie, & Hu, Shanchang. (2020, 8 October). ‘SARS-CoV-2 Is an Unrestricted Bioweapon: A Truth Revealed through Uncovering a Large-Scale, Organized Scientific Fraud’. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4073131
Ralph Baric had warned in 2006 Baric, R. S. (2006). ‘Synthetic Viral Genomics’. In: Working Papers for Synthetic Genomics: Risks and Benefits for Science and Society, pp. 35–81. Garfinkel, M. S., Endy, D., Epstein, G. L., Friedman, R. M., editors. 2007. https://www.jcvi.org/sites/default/files/assets/projects/synthetic-genomics-options-for-governance/Baric-Synthetic-Viral-Genomics.pdf
Furin is a vital protein doing steady work in human cells Benedette Cuffari. ‘What Are Furin Proteases?’ News Medical. https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-are-Furin-Proteases.aspx; see also ‘Furin. The Human Protein Atlas’. https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000140564-FURIN/tissue
A team of scientists in France and Canada Coutard, B., Valle, C., de Lamballerie, X., Canard, B., Seidah, N. G., & Decroly, E. (2020). ‘The Spike Glycoprotein of the New Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Contains a Furin-Like Cleavage Site Absent in CoV of the Same Clade’. Antiviral Research, 176, 104742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104742
a team of scientists from four universities across cities spanning China Zhang, W., Li, X., Chen, J., Shi, J., Duan, G., Chen, X., Gao, S., Ruan, J. ‘A Furin Cleavage Site Was Discovered in the S Protein of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus’. ResearchGate preprint. January 2020. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338804501_A_furin_cleavage_site_was_discovered_in_the_S_protein_of_the_2019_novel_coronavirus
In April 2021, scientists from the National Institutes of Health found long inserts Garushyants, S. K., Rogozin, I. B., & Koonin, E. V. (2021). ‘Insertions in SARS-CoV-2 Genome Caused By Template Switch and Duplications Give Rise to New Variants of Potential Concern’. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology, 2021.04.23.441209. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.23.441209
Several groups of scientists have found that when they remove the furin cleavage site Hoffmann, M., Kleine-Weber, H., & Pöhlmann, S. (2020). ‘A Multibasic Cleavage Site in the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Is Essential for Infection of Human Lung Cells’. Molecular Cell, 78(4), 779–784.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2020.04.022
In 1992, a team at the Institute of Virology in Marburg, Germany, discovered that a type of furin Stieneke-Gröber, A., Vey, M., Angliker, H., Shaw, E., Thomas, G., Roberts, C., Klenk, H. D., & Garten, W. (1992). ‘Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin with Multibasic Cleavage Site Is Activated by Furin, a Subtilisin-Like Endoprotease’. EMBO Journal, 11(7), 2407–2414
Just a few months later, a different group of scientists led by the same senior authors demonstrated that such a sequence motif Hallenberger, S., Bosch, V., Angliker, H., Shaw, E., Klenk, H. D., & Garten, W. (1992). ‘Inhibition of Furin-Mediated Cleavage Activation of HIV-1 Glycoprotein gp160’. Nature, 360(6402), 358–361. https://doi.org/10.1038/360358a0
Dr Jack Nunberg, a biologist whose career has included spells at a pharmaceutical firm and two biotech firms http://hs.umt.edu/dbs/people/faculty.php?s=Nunberg
carried out the pioneering experiment in 2006 Follis, K. E., York, J., & Nunberg, J. H. (2006). ‘Furin Cleavage of the SARS Coronavirus Spike Glycoprotein Enhances Cell-Cell Fusion But Does Not Affect Virion Entry’. Virology, 350(2), 358–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2006.02.003
In 2009, a team at Cornell University Belouzard, S., Chu, V. C., & Whittaker, G. R. (2009). ‘Activation of the SARS Coronavirus Spike Protein Via Sequential Proteolytic Cleavage at Two Distinct Sites’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(14), 5871–5876. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809524106
In May 2015, a scientific collaboration between the Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan and Utrecht University in the Netherlands Li, W., Wicht, O., van Kuppeveld, F. J., He, Q., Rottier, P. J., & Bosch, B. J. (2015). ‘A Single Point Mutation Creating a Furin Cleavage Site in the Spike Protein Renders Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Coronavirus Trypsin Independent for Cell Entry and Fusion’. Journal of Virology, 89(15), 8077–8081. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00356-15
Also in 2015, Drs Shi Zhengli and Ralph Baric were co-authors on a paper Yang, Y., Liu, C., Du, L., Jiang, S., Shi, Z., Baric, R. S., & Li, F. (2015). ‘Two Mutations Were Critical for Bat-to-Human Transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus’. Journal of Virology, 89(17), 9119–9123. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01279-15
This disease of chickens was the earliest coronavirus disease to be identified Mahase E. (2020). ‘Covid-19: Coronavirus Was First Described in The BMJ in 1965’. BMJ (Clinical Eesearch ed.), 369, m1547. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1547
The experiment showed that putting a furin cleavage site into the S2 domain Cheng, J., Zhao, Y., Xu, G., Zhang, K., Jia, W., Sun, Y., Zhao, J., Xue, J., Hu, Y., & Zhang, G. (2019). ‘The S2 Subunit of QX-type Infectious Bronchitis Coronavirus Spike Protein Is an Essential Determinant of Neurotropism’. Viruses, 11(10), 972. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11100972
On 6 May 2021, in a lengthy online essay, the veteran science journalist Nicholas Wade Nicholas Wade. ‘Origin of Covid – Following the Clues’. Medium. 2 May 2020. https://nicholaswade.medium.com/origin-of-covid-following-the-clues-6f03564c038
He also told Caltech Weekly ‘The Debate Over Origins of SARS-CoV-2’. Caltech Weekly. 22 June 2021. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-debate-over-origins-of-sars-cov-2
‘The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2’ published in Nature Andersen, K. G., Rambaut, A., Lipkin, W. I., Holmes, E. C., & Garry, R. F. (2020). ‘The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2’. Nature Medicine, 26(4), 450–452. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9
Dr Andersen had been quoted in the Scripps press release ‘The COVID-19 Coronavirus Epidemic Has a Natural Origin, Scientists Say. Scripps Research’. 17 March 2020. https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2020/20200317-andersen-covid-19-coronavirus.html
Dr Andersen pointed out Mr Wade’s ‘troubled history of misrepresenting (and/or misunderstanding) the very basics of evolutionary biology’ ‘Letters: “A Troublesome Inheritance”’. Stanford University. https://cehg.stanford.edu/letter-from-population-geneticists
Within the genome of SARS-CoV-2, the commonest codon for arginine is AGA and the rarest is CGG Hou W. (2020). ‘Characterization of Codon Usage Pattern in SARS-CoV-2’. Virology Journal, 17(1), 138. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01395-x
In 2004, a mainly Boston-based team of scientists Moore, M. J., Dorfman, T., Li, W., Wong, S. K., Li, Y., Kuhn, J. H., Coderre, J., Vasilieva, N., Han, Z., Greenough, T. C., Farzan, M., & Choe, H. (2004). ‘Retroviruses Pseudotyped with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Spike Protein Efficiently Infect Cells Expressing Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2’. Journal of Virology, 78(19), 10628–10635. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.78.19.10628-10635.2004
Dr Nunberg likewise was quoted in June 2020 David Cyranoski. ‘The Biggest Mystery: What It Will Take to Trace the Coronavirus Source’. Nature. 5 June 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01541-z
a bat virus was found and given a lot of publicity Zhou, H., Chen, X., Hu, T., Li, J., Song, H., Liu, Y., Wang, P., Liu, D., Yang, J., Holmes, E. C., Hughes, A. C., Bi, Y., & Shi, W. (2020). ‘A Novel Bat Coronavirus Closely Related to SARS-CoV-2 Contains Natural Insertions at the S1/S2 Cleavage Site of the Spike Protein’. Current Biology : CB, 30(11), 2196–2203.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.023
Rm stands for Rhinolophus malayanus, the Malayan horseshoe bat Liang, J., He, X., Peng, X., Xie, H., Zhang, L. ‘First Record of Existence of Rhinolophus Malayanus (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in China’. Mammalia. 84(4). DOI:10.1515/mammalia-2019-0062. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337145895_First_record_of_existence_of_Rhinolophus_malayanus_Chiroptera_Rhinolophidae_in_China
later published in BioEssays in May 2021 Deigin, Y. & Segreto, R. (2021). ‘SARS-CoV-2’s Claimed Natural Origin Is Undermined by Issues with Genome Sequences of Its Relative Strains: Coronavirus Sequences RaTG13, MP789 and RmYN02 Raise Multiple Questions to Be Critically Addressed by the Scientific Community’. BioEssays: News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 43(7), e2100015. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202100015
In December 2020, scientists from the University of Tokyo published the genome of a SARS-CoV-2-like virus Murakami, S., Kitamura, T., Suzuki, J., Sato, R., Aoi, T., Fujii, M. Horimoto, T. (2020). ‘Detection and Characterization of Bat Sarbecovirus Phylogenetically Related to SARS-CoV-2, Japan’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26(12), 3025-3029. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2612.203386
In early 2021, French and Cambodian scientists found two nearly identical viruses Vibol Hul, Deborah Delaune, Erik A. Karlsson, Alexandre Hassanin, Putita Ou Tey, Artem Baidaliuk, Fabiana Gámbaro, Vuong Tan Tu, Lucy Keatts, Jonna Mazet, Christine Johnson, Philippe Buchy, Philippe Dussart, Tracey Goldstein, Etienne Simon-Lorière, Veasna Duong. ‘A Novel SARS-CoV-2 Related Coronavirus in Bats from Cambodia’. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology 2021.01.26.428212; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.26.428212
The next new virus to be reported was in Thailand Wacharapluesadee, S., Tan, C. W., Maneeorn, P., Duengkae, P., Zhu, F., Joyjinda, Y., Kaewpom, T., Chia, W. N., Ampoot, W., Lim, B. L., Worachotsueptrakun, K., Chen, V. C., Sirichan, N., Ruchisrisarod, C., Rodpan, A., Noradechanon, K., Phaichana, T., Jantarat, N., Thongnumchaima, B., Tu, C., . . . Wang, L. F. (2021). ‘Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 Related Coronaviruses Circulating in Bats and Pangolins in Southeast Asia’. Nature Communications, 12(1), 972. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21240-1
the species Rhinolophus acuminatus, one not reported to be found in China Accuminate Horseshoe Bat. IUCN Red List. 30 August 2018. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/19520/21974227
seven bat species so far have been found to harbour them Zhou, H., Ji, J., Chen, X., Bi, Y., Li, J., Wang, Q., Hu, T., Song, H., Zhao, R., Chen, Y., Cui, M., Zhang, Y., Hughes, A. C., Holmes, E. C., & Shi, W. (2021). ‘Identification of Novel Bat Coronaviruses Sheds Light on the Evolutionary Origins of SARS-CoV-2 and Related Viruses’. Cell, 184(17), 4380–4391.e14. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.008
The first published paper to analyse and discuss the newly discovered genome sequence Zhou, P., Yang, X. L., Wang, X. G., Hu, B., Zhang, L., Zhang, W., Si, H. R., Zhu, Y., Li, B., Huang, C. L., Chen, H. D., Chen, J., Luo, Y., Guo, H., Jiang, R. D., Liu, M. Q., Chen, Y., Shen, X. R., Wang, X., Zheng, X. S., . . . Shi, Z. L. (2020). ‘A Pneumonia Outbreak Associated with a New Coronavirus of Probable Bat Origin’. Nature, 579(7798), 270–273. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7
another paper was published online, on 31 January 2020, in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections Jiang, S., Du, L., & Shi, Z. (2020). ‘An Emerging Coronavirus Causing Pneumonia Outbreak in Wuhan, China: Calling for Developing Therapeutic and Prophylactic Strategies’. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 9(1), 275–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1723441
Some scientists have pointed out that @trvrb Twitter. 10 June 2021. https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1403045938009022466; see also Wu, F., Zhao, S., Yu, B., Chen, Y. M., Wang, W., Song, Z. G., Hu, Y., Tao, Z. W., Tian, J. H., Pei, Y. Y., Yuan, M. L., Zhang, Y. L., Dai, F. H., Liu, Y., Wang, Q. M., Zheng, J. J., Xu, L., Holmes, E. C., & Zhang, Y. Z. (2020). ‘A New Coronavirus Associated With Human Respiratory Disease in China’. Nature, 579(7798), 265–269. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3
in the addendum to the paper published the following November Zhou, P., Yang, X. L., Wang, X. G., Hu, B., Zhang, L., Zhang, W., Si, H. R., Zhu, Y., Li, B., Huang, C. L., Chen, H. D., Chen, J., Luo, Y., Guo, H., Jiang, R. D., Liu, M. Q., Chen, Y., Shen, X. R., Wang, X., Zheng, X. S., . . . Shi, Z. L. (2020). ‘Addendum: A Pneumonia Outbreak Associated with a New Coronavirus of Probable Bat Origin’. Nature, 588(7836), E6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2951-z
Alina confirmed that at least one US scientist had reached out @notoriousFIL Twitter. 13 September 2020. https://twitter.com/notoriousFIL/status/1305206970937479170
On 19 May 2020, the amplicon sequences were deposited into the GenBank database https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/SRX8357956
Alina pointed out Dr Daszak’s mistake in the Sunday Times George Arbuthnott, Jonathan Calvert and Philip Sherwell. ‘Revealed: Seven Year Coronavirus Trail from Mine Deaths to a Wuhan Lab’. Sunday Times. 4 July 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/seven-year-covid-trail-revealed-l5vxt7jqp
It started with a tweet on 2 July 2020 from a Spaniard called Francisco de Ribera @franciscodeasis Twitter. 2 July 2020. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1278698980940173314
8 July, Ribera asked Dr Daszak @franciscodeasis Twitter. 8 July 2020. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1280980860850909189
Then, on 8 July, up popped the anonymous and indefatigable internet sleuth called the Seeker with a helpful clue @TheSeeker268 Twitter. 7 July 2020. https://twitter.com/TheSeeker268/status/1280702509640634368; https://bigd.big.ac.cn/biosample/browse/SAMC191048
On 2 August, he found there was a ‘cluster of consecutive samples from 7895 to 7966 (72 samples, 47 positives, 3 co-infections) suggesting a same trip’ @franciscodeasis Twitter. 1 August 2020. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1289716856052264960
Ribera gradually became all but certain that the eight new viruses came from the copper mine in Mojiang County, where they had been collected two years later than the RaTG13 sample, in the spring of 2015 @franciscodeasis Twitter. 21 May 2021. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1395915528234012674
On 3 December 2020, Dr Shi spoke at a webinar ‘Covid-19: diaporama et conférences de l’académie vétérinaire de France’. Academie Veterinaire de France. https://academie-veterinaire-defrance.org/publications/videos-de-lavf/covid-19
A bioinformatics consultant, Moreno Colaiacovo, who spotted the slide @emmecola Twitter. 3 December 2020. https://twitter.com/emmecola/status/1334505779718729729
on 18 December, Dr Shi gave another online lecture at a conference of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza ESWI2020 Keynote Lecture Zhengli Shi: From SARS to COVID-19, Understanding The Interspecies Transmission of SARS-Related Coronaviruses. ESWI. https://eswi.org/eswi-tv/eswi2020-keynote-lecture-zhengli-shi-from-sars-to-covid-19-understanding-the-interspecies-transmission-of-sars-related-coronaviruses/
On 24 February 2021, Dr Shi gave another online talk Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSISkvlesnA
On 23 March, Dr Shi gave yet another talk ‘From SARS, MERS to COVID-19: Understanding of Interspecies Transmission of Bat Coronaviruses’. Rutgers. 23 March 2021. https://globalhealth.rutgers.edu/event/from-sars-mers-to-covid-19-understanding-of-interspecies-transmission-of-bat-coronaviruses/
seven of the eight had a different prefix: Rst @AntGDuarte Twitter. 23 March 2021. https://twitter.com/AntGDuarte/status/1374457519838437378
in May 2021, Dr Shi and colleagues did at last publish in a preprint Hua Guo, Ben Hu, Hao-rui Si, Yan Zhu, Wei Zhang, Bei Li, Ang Li, Rong Geng, Hao-Feng Lin, Xing-Lou Yang, Peng Zhou, Zheng-Li Shi. bioRxiv: The Preprint Server for Biology 2021.05.21.445091; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.21.445091
A Spanish business consultant working in his spare time painstakingly worked out @franciscodeasis Twitter. 18 November 2020. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1329057812815765504
In September 2021, it was revealed that Dr Wang https://www.science.org/content/article/why-many-scientists-say-unlikely-sars-cov-2-originated-lab-leak
Remember that Francisco de Ribera had asked, as long ago as July 2020, ‘Could it be that the 7896 was used somehow as an aid for sequencing RaTG13?’ @franciscodeasis Twitter. 7 July 2020. https://twitter.com/franciscodeasis/status/1280518834965950472
the World Health Organization’s director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said China’s speed WHO Director-General’s Statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). World Health Organization. 30 January 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-statement-on-ihr-emergency-committee-on-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
on 14 January, the WHO had even issued a tweet @WHO Twitter. 14 January 2020. https://twitter.com/who/status/1217043229427761152?lang=en
the acting head of the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, announced that although there were clusters of cases Stephanie Nebehay. ‘WHO Says New China Coronavirus Could Spread, Warns Hospitals Worldwide’. Reuters. 14 January 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-pneumonia-who-idUSKBN1ZD16J
A WHO team visited Wuhan on 20 January 2020 Mission summary: WHO Field Visit to Wuhan, China 20–21 January 2020. World Health Organization. 22 January 2020. https://www.who.int/china/news/detail/22-01-2020-field-visit-wuhan-china-jan-2020
WHO officials were complaining ‘Gravitas: Wuhan Virus Pandemic: Leaked Audio Featuring WHO Officials Reveal China’s Lapses’. WION. Video Report. 27 January 2021. https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-wuhan-virus-pandemic-leaked-audio-featuring-who-officials-reveal-chinas-lapses-359761
In February Dr Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University complained Emily Rauhala. ‘Chinese Officials Note Serious Problems in Coronavirus Response. The World Health Organization Keeps Praising Them’. Washington Post. 9 February 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-officials-note-serious-problems-in-coronavirus-response-the-world-health-organization-keeps-praising-them/2020/02/08/b663dd7c-4834-11ea-91ab-ce439aa5c7c1_story.html
Dr Gostin to the New York Times Selam Gebrekidan, Matt Apuzzo, Amy Qin and Javier C. Hernández. ‘In Hunt for Virus Source, WHO Let China Take Charge’. New York Times. 2 November 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/world/who-china-coronavirus.html
The decision was reversed on 30 January Statement on the Second Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee Regarding the Outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). World Health Organization. 30 January 2020. https://www.who.int/news/item/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
Dr Gauden Galea, the WHO representative in China, complained publicly Tom Cheshire. ‘Coronavirus: WHO “Not Invited” to Join China’s COVID-19 Investigations’. Sky News. 1 May 2020. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-who-not-invited-to-join-chinas-covid-19-investigations-11981193
‘little had been done in terms of epidemiological investigations around Wuhan since January 2020’ Stephanie Kirchgaessner. ‘China Did “Little” to Hunt for Covid Origins in Early Months, Says WHO Document’. Guardian. 23 February 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/23/china-did-little-hunt-covid-origins-early-months-says-who-document
The final composition of the international team was to be agreed by both China and the WHO Simone McCarthy. ‘Coronavirus: WHO Waits for China to Approve Pandemic Origins Investigators’. South China Morning Post. 8 October 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3104578/coronavirus-who-waits-china-approve-pandemic-origins
he wrote an opinion article in the New York Times Peter Daszak. ‘We Knew Disease X Was Coming. It’s Here Now’. New York Times. 27 February 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/opinion/coronavirus-pandemics.html
Dr Daszak showed he had not changed his mind, writing an opinion piece for the Guardian Peter Daszak. ‘Ignore the Conspiracy Theories: Scientists Know Covid-19 Wasn’t Created in a Lab’. Guardian. 9 June 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/09/conspiracies-covid-19-lab-false-pandemic
later revealed under FOI requests, Dr Daszak had said https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Baric-Emails-2.17.21.pdf; see also @CharlesRixey Twitter. 18 May 2021. https://twitter.com/CharlesRixey/status/1394555646071160833
Later the journalist Nathan Robinson asked Nathan J. Robinson. ‘The Stakes of Finding COVID-19’s Origins’. Current Affairs. 14 May 2021. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-stakes-of-finding-covid-19s-origins
The first phase of investigation Drew Hinshaw and Jeremy Page. ‘WHO Mission to Look for Answers to Covid-19’s Origin in Wuhan’. Wall Street Journal. 14 January 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-mission-to-look-for-answers-to-covid-19s-origin-in-wuhan-11610566665; see also John Sudworth. ‘Wuhan Marks Its Anniversary with Triumph and Denial’. BBC. 23 January 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55765875
resulting in what Bloomberg called ‘a rare rebuke’ from the WHO on 5 January 2021 ‘WHO Issues Rare Rebuke to China for Delaying Virus Team’. Bloomberg. 6 January 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-06/who-issues-rare-rebuke-to-china-for-delaying-virus-origins-trip; see also Drew Hinshaw. ‘WHO Criticizes China for Stymying Investigation Into Covid-19 Origins’. Wall Street Journal. 6 January 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/world-health-organization-criticizes-china-over-delays-in-covid-19-probe-11609883140
The Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman responded ‘Covid: WHO Team Investigating Virus Origins Denied Entry to China’. BBC. 6 January 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55555466
It was ‘part of a global study, not an investigation,’ said a foreign ministry spokesman Janis Mackey Frayer and Adela Suliman. ‘As WHO Mission into Covid Origin Begins in China, Bereaved Son Seeks Answers’. NBC. 29 January 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/who-mission-covid-origin-begins-china-bereaved-son-seeks-answers-n1256121
a press conference in Wuhan COVID-19 Virtual Press conference transcript – 9 February 2021. World Health Organization. 9 February 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-virtual-press-conference-transcript---9-february-2021
Dr Ben Embarek told Science magazine Kai Kupferschmidt. ‘“Politics Was Always in the Room.” WHO Mission Chief Reflects on China Trip Seeking COVID-19’s Origin’. Science. 14 February 2021. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/politics-was-always-room-who-mission-chief-reflects-china-trip-seeking-covid-19-s
Interviewed on CNN, one of the members of the team, Dr Daszak ‘“Striking piece of evidence”: WHO Researcher on Products in Wuhan Market’. CNN. Video Report. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/02/09/who-coronavirus-origin-wuhan-china-peter-daszak-interview-anderson-ctw-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/coronavirus-intl/
Dr Fabian Leendertz from Germany, later told the New York Times Javier C. Hernández and James Gorman. ‘On WHO Trip, China Refused to Hand Over Important Data’. New York Times. 12 February 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/world/asia/china-world-health-organization-coronavirus.html
the total amount of time the WHO-convened team had spent at the Wuhan Institute of Virology Emily Wang Fujiyama. ‘WHO Team Visits Wuhan Virus Lab at Center of Speculation’. Associated Press. 2 February 2021. https://apnews.com/article/who-visits-wuhan-virus-lab-china-8798374a3c6acc56b1e8b973309045ba; see also Gerry Shih and Emily Rauhala. ‘After Wuhan Mission on Pandemic Origins, WHO Team Dismisses Lab Leak Theory’. Washington Post. 9 February 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-who-china-investigation-wuhan/2021/02/09/2af3c44c-6a79-11eb-a66e-e27046e9e898_story.html
the host of 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl, later called it out in an interview Lesley Stahl. ‘What Happened in Wuhan? Why Questions Still Linger on the Origin of the Coronavirus’. 60 Minutes. 28 March 2021. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-wuhan-origins-60-minutes-2021-03-28/
said one of the international experts on the team, Dr Vladimir Dedkov Daria Litvinova and Jamey Keaten. ‘1 Report, 4 Theories: Where Did COVID-19 Come From?’ Associated Press. 25 March 2021. https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/1-report-4-theories-coronavirus-origin/507-ff2bd079-b3ad-48a6-9988-0e2c574a3c99
the report’s map of confirmed early cases in Wuhan Alina Chan. ‘A Response to “The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review”’. Medium. 12 July 2021. https://ayjchan.medium.com/a-response-to-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2-a-critical-review-5d4a644d9777
the Washington Post reported several important errors in the China-WHO joint report Eva Dou and Emily Rauhala. ‘WHO Clarifies Details of Early Covid Patients in Wuhan after Errors in Virus Report’. Washington Post. 15 July 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/covid-wuhan-outbreak-who/2021/07/15/51e7e8a6-e2c6-11eb-88c5-4fd6382c47cb_story.html
a group of prominent scientists had already attempted Holmes, Edward C., Goldstein, Stephen A., Rasmussen, Angela L., Robertson, David L., Crits-Christoph, Alexander, Wertheim, Joel O., Anthony, Simon J., Barclay, Wendy S., Boni, Maciej F., Doherty, Peter C., Farrar, Jeremy, Geoghegan, Jemma L, Jiang, Xiaowei, Leibowitz, Julian L., Neil, Stuart J. D, Skern, Tim, Weiss, Susan R., Worobey, Michael, Andersen, Kristian G., . . . Rambaut, Andrew. (2021). ‘The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review (1.0)’. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5075888
Dr Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the team, told the Wall Street Journal . . . Dr Thea Fischer, a Danish epidemiologist, told the Wall Street Journal Jeremy Page and Drew Hinshaw. ‘China Refuses to Give WHO Raw Data on Early Covid-19 Cases’. Wall Street Journal. 12 February 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-refuses-to-give-who-raw-data-on-early-covid-19-cases-11613150580; see also Betsy McKay, Drew Hinshaw and Jeremy Page. ‘Covid-19 Was Spreading in China Before First Confirmed Cases, Fresh Evidence Suggests’. Wall Street Journal. 19 February 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-was-spreading-in-china-before-first-confirmed-cases-fresh-evidence-suggests-11613730600
The possibility of analysing Wuhan blood banks Betsy McKay and Amy Dockser Marcus. ‘Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic Is Sought in Old Blood Samples’. Wall Street Journal. 8 April 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/origin-of-covid-19-pandemic-is-sought-in-old-blood-samples-11617874200; see also James Gorman. ‘With Virus Origins Still Obscure, WHO and Critics Look to Next Steps’. New York Times. 7 April 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/health/coronavirus-lab-leak-who.html
Dr Rasmus Nielsen of the University of Berkeley expressed surprise Keld Vrå Andersen. ‘China Does Not Want Corona Theory Investigated Further’. TV2. 13 August 2021.
Dr Daszak was retweeting Chinese state-owned media Twitter. 9 February 2021. https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1359156331769430028
researchers published an original study of the wild animals sold in Wuhan’s markets Xiao, X., Newman, C., Buesching, C. D., Macdonald, D. W., & Zhou, Z. M. (2021). ‘Animal Sales from Wuhan Wet Markets Immediately Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic’. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 11898. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91470-2
Not all went as far as Dr Bruno Canard Ian Birrell. ‘World Experts Condemn WHO Inquiry as a “Charade”’. Mail on Sunday. 14 February 2021. http://www.ianbirrell.com/world-experts-condemn-who-inquiry-as-a-charade/
The Australian newspaper, which wrote ‘WHO Whitewash Leaves the World in Darkness on Covid’. The Australian. 10 February 2021. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/who-whitewash-leaves-the-world-in-darkness-on-covid/news-story/5b31f4b2c3521d0b18b807729cf5d53e
national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The White House. 13 February 2021. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/13/statement-by-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan/
Dr Daszak went another way. He tweeted @PeterDaszak Twitter. 9 February 2021. https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1359357862254841856
participated in a public Chatham House webinar ‘COVID-19 briefing: The WHO-China mission’. Chatham House. 10 March 2021. https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/members-event/covid-19-briefing-who-china-mission
A Wall Street Journal report corroborated this story Jeremy Page, Betsy McKay and Drew Hinshaw. ‘Search for Covid’s Origins Leads to China’s Wild Animal Farms – and a Big Problem’. Wall Street Journal. 30 June 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origins-china-wild-animal-farms-pandemic-source-11625060088
Dr Daniel Lucey of Georgetown University in Washington, had told the BBC John Sudworth. ‘Covid: Wuhan Scientist Would “Welcome” Visit Probing Lab Leak Theory’. BBC. 21 December 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55364445
Dr Lucey told the South China Morning Post Simone McCarthy. ‘Hunt for Covid-19 Origins: Questions Surface Over China’s Testing of Suspect Animals’. South China Morning Post. 26 February 2021. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3123147/hunt-covid-19-origins-questions-surface-over-chinas-testing
the China-WHO joint team scrapped its plan to publish an interim report Betsy McKay, Drew Hinshaw and Jeremy Page. ‘WHO Investigators to Scrap Plans for Interim Report on Probe of Covid-19 Origins’. Wall Street Journal. 5 March 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-investigators-to-scrap-interim-report-on-probe-of-covid-19-origins-11614865067
The Global Times, a Chinese state organ ‘Presumption of Guilt in Virus Study Not Conducive, Chinese FM Comments on “Open Letter” of “New Probe”’. Global Times. 5 March 2021. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1217465.shtml
This time, Dr Tedros said WHO Director-General’s Remarks at the Member State Briefing on the Report of the International Team Studying the Origins of SARS-CoV-2. World Health Organization. 30 March 2021. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-remarks-at-the-member-state-briefing-on-the-report-of-the-international-team-studying-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2
Governments from around the world weighed in on the report Joint Statement on the WHO-Convened COVID-19 Origins Study. US Department of State. 30 March 2021. https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-who-convened-covid-19-origins-study/; see also EU Statement on the WHO-led COVID-19 Origins Study. Delegation of the European Union to the UN and Other International Organisations in Geneva. 30 March 2021. https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/95960/eu-statement-who-led-covid-19-origins-study_en
An unidentified Chinese scientist on the China-WHO study team was reported Zhuang Pinghui. ‘Coronavirus: Chinese Expert Rails Against WHO Chief and Wuhan Lab Leak Theory’. South China Morning Post. 21 April 2021. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3130470/coronavirus-chinese-expert-rails-against-tedros-and-wuhan-lab; see also Natalie Liu. ‘Beijing Urges WHO Leader Not to Pursue “Lab Leak” Theory’. Voice of America. 22 April 2021. https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/beijing-urges-who-leader-not-pursue-lab-leak-theory
It was published on 14 May with eighteen authors Bloom, J. D., Chan, Y. A., Baric, R. S., Bjorkman, P. J., Cobey, S., Deverman, B. E., Fisman, D. N., Gupta, R., Iwasaki, A., Lipsitch, M., Medzhitov, R., Neher, R. A., Nielsen, R., Patterson, N., Stearns, T., van Nimwegen, E., Worobey, M., & Relman, D. A. (2021). ‘Investigate the Origins of COVID-19’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 372(6543), 694. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj0016
The editor-in-chief at Science wrote an accompanying blog post H. Holden Thorp. ‘Continued Discussion on the Origin of COVID-19’. Science. 13 May 2021. https://blogs.sciencemag.org/editors-blog/2021/05/13/continued-discussion-on-the-origin-of-covid-19/
Baric had told the People’s Pharmacy Nicholson Baker. ‘The Lab Leak Hypothesis’. New York Magazine. 4 January 2021. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/coronavirus-lab-escape-theory.html
He told the Italian television programme Presa Diretta in mid-2020 Presa Diretta. Video Report. https://www.raiplay.it/video/2020/11/SARS-COV2---Identikit-di-un-Killer-f4b539cc-07ac-41c2-a1a4-1aab862f75ff.html
The New York Times altered its description of the lab-leak theory in a tab heading @McWLuke Twitter. 14 May 2021. https://twitter.com/McWLuke/status/1393290456717484034
The fact-checking site PolitiFact removed a claim of ‘debunked conspiracy theory’ @SohrabAhmari Twitter. 19 May 2021. https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1395159392287342592
Long articles by journalists Nathan Robinson in Current Affairs Nathan J. Robinson. ‘The Stakes of Finding COVID-19’s Origins’. Current Affairs. 14 May 2021. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-stakes-of-finding-covid-19s-origins
Donald McNeil Jr in Medium Donald G. McNeil Jr. ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lab-Leak Theory’. Medium. 17 May 2021. https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.com/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-lab-leak-theory-f4f88446b04d
The same has already been found for the 2003 SARS virus Hu, B., Zeng, L. P., Yang, X. L., Ge, X. Y., Zhang, W., Li, B., Xie, J. Z., Shen, X. R., Zhang, Y. Z., Wang, N., Luo, D. S., Zheng, X. S., Wang, M. N., Daszak, P., Wang, L. F., Cui, J., & Shi, Z. L. (2017). ‘Discovery of a Rich Gene Pool of Bat SARS-Related Coronaviruses Provides New Insights into the Origin of SARS Coronavirus’. PLoS Pathogens, 13(11), e1006698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006698
Or take Ebola Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/chronology.html; see also ‘Chronology of Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks, 1976–2014’. Public Health Intelligence. 6 October 2014. http://publichealthintelligence.org/content/chronology-ebola-virus-disease-outbreaks-1976-2014
Dr Fabian Leendertz, said they agreed to include the frozen-food theory Javier C. Hernández and James Gorman. ‘On WHO Trip, China Refused to Hand Over Important Data’. New York Times. 12 February 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/world/asia/china-world-health-organization-coronavirus.html
Even the China-WHO team leader, Dr Peter Ben Embarek, conceded Kai Kupferschmidt. ‘“Politics Was Always in the Room.” WHO Mission Chief Reflects on China Trip Seeking COVID-19’s Origin’. Science. 14 February 2021. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/politics-was-always-room-who-mission-chief-reflects-china-trip-seeking-covid-19-s
an experiment involving a bovine coronavirus Borucki, M. K., Allen, J. E., Chen-Harris, H., Zemla, A., Vanier, G., Mabery, S., Torres, C., Hullinger, P., & Slezak, T. (2013). ‘The Role of Viral Population Diversity in Adaptation of Bovine Coronavirus to New Host Environments’. PLoS One, 8(1), e52752. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052752
But if an engineered virus does escape, there might be no way to distinguish it from a natural mutant Sarah Scoles. ‘How Do We Know If a Virus Is Bioengineered?’ Future Human. 5 August 2020. https://futurehuman.medium.com/how-do-we-know-if-a-virus-is-bioengineered-541ff6f8a48f
Dr Ian Lipkin of Columbia University Donald G. McNeil Jr. ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lab-Leak Theory’. Medium. 17 May 2021. https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.com/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-lab-leak-theory-f4f88446b04d
Dr Bernard Roizman, a virologist at the University of Chicago Jeremy Page, Betsy McKay and Drew Hinshaw. ‘The Wuhan Lab Leak Question: A Disused Chinese Mine Takes Center Stage’. Wall Street Journal. 24 May 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wuhan-lab-leak-question-chinese-mine-covid-pandemic-11621871125
Dr Charles Calisher, a Colorado State University virologist also told ABC News Kaitlyn Folmer, Sony Salzman, Sasha Pezenik, Mark Abdelmalek and Lucien Bruggeman. ‘Nature-Based or Lab Leak? Unraveling the Debate Over the Origins of COVID-19’. ABC News. 14 June 2021. https://abcnews.go.com/US/nature-based-man-made-unraveling-debate-origins-covid/story?id=78268577
Dr Peter Palese told the New York Post Bruce Golding. ‘Prominent NYC Scientist Backtracks on COVID Origin Over “Disturbing Information”’. New York Post. 4 June 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/06/04/prominent-nyc-scientist-backtracks-on-natural-origin-of-covid/
Dr Gary Whittaker, a specialist in influenza and coronaviruses Whittaker, G. R. (2021). ‘SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Its Adaptable Furin Cleavage Site’. Lancet. Microbe, 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00174-9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00174-9
There is a neat phrase used by the philosopher Daniel Dennett: burden-tennis Review of J. Fodor, Psychosemantics, Journal of Philosophy, LXXXV, 384–389, July 1988. Jerry Fodor, Psychosemantics, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press/A Bradford Book, 1987, 173 pp. Available at: http://cogprints.org/253/1/fodor.htm
In the words of the journalist Rowan Jacobsen Rowan Jacobsen. ‘Humans, Not Animals, Likely Took the COVID Virus to Wuhan, Contrary to China’s Claims’. Newsweek. 25 March 2021. https://www.newsweek.com/humans-not-animals-likely-took-covid-virus-wuhan-contrary-chinas-claims-1578861
Dr Baric’s group published a proof-of-concept Martinez, D. R., Schäfer, A., Leist, S. R., De la Cruz, G., West, A., Atochina-Vasserman, E. N., Lindesmith, L. C., Pardi, N., Parks, R., Barr, M., Li, D., Yount, B., Saunders, K. O., Weissman, D., Haynes, B. F., Montgomery, S. A., & Baric, R. S. (2021). ‘Chimeric Spike mRNA Vaccines Protect Against Sarbecovirus Challenge in Mice’. Science (New York, N.Y.), eabi4506. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi4506
As Dr David Relman of Stanford University put it Relman D. A. (2020). ‘Opinion: To Stop the Next Pandemic, We Need to Unravel the Origins of COVID-19’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(47), 29246–29248. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2021133117
On 26 May 2021, the US President Joe Biden issued a statement Statement by President Joe Biden on the Investigation into the Origins of COVID-19. The White House. 26 May 2021. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/26/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-19/
bipartisan hearings and Senate briefings in the US ‘PRINCIPLES FOR OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION: COVID-19 AND FUTURE INFECTIOUS DISEASES’. 14 July 2021. https://science.house.gov/hearings/principles-for-outbreak-investigation-covid-19-and-future-infectious-diseases; see also ‘Sens. Marshall and Gillibrand Hold Bipartisan COVID Origins Briefing’. 3 August 2021. https://www.marshall.senate.gov/press-releases/sens-marshall-and-gillibrand-hold-bipartisan-covid-origins-briefing/
On 27 August 2021, the US government’s intelligence agencies Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The unclassified United States Intelligence Community report on the Origin of Covid-19. 27 August 2021. https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Unclassified-Summary-of-Assessment-on-COVID-19-Origins.pdf; see also: The White House. Statement by President Joe Biden on the Investigation into the Origins of COVID-19. 27 August 2021. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/27/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-%E2%81%A019/
much of the American public and the international media had already shifted Alice Miranda Ollstein. ‘POLITICO-Harvard poll: Most Americans Believe Covid Leaked from Lab’. 9 July 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/09/poll-covid-wuhan-lab-leak-498847
notable exceptions The notable exceptions among journalists included: Ian Birrell of the Mail on Sunday, John Sudworth of the BBC, Josh Rogin of the Washington Post, Aksel Fridstrøm of Minervanett, Jackson Ryan of CNET, Antonio Regalado of MIT Technology Review, and Rowan Jacobsen who wrote for Boston Magazine and Newsweek.
only Jamie Metzl publicly expressed scepticism Jamie Metzl. Origins of SARS-CoV-2. https://jamiemetzl.com/origins-of-sars-cov-2/
Yuri Deigin’s essay in Medium in April 2020 Deigin, Y. ‘Lab-Made? SARS-CoV-2 Genealogy Through the Lens of Gain-of-Function Research’. Medium. 22 April 2020. https://yurideigin.medium.com/lab-made-cov2-genealogy-through-the-lens-of-gain-of-function-research-f96dd7413748
Milton Leitenberg’s essay in June 2020 Milton Leitenberg. ‘Did the SARS-CoV-2 Virus Arise from a Bat Coronavirus Research Program in a Chinese laboratory? Very Possibly’. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 4 June 2020. https://thebulletin.org/2020/06/did-the-sars-cov-2-virus-arise-from-a-bat-coronavirus-research-program-in-a-chinese-laboratory-very-possibly/
Rowan Jacobsen’s profile of Alina Rowan Jacobsen. ‘Could Covid-19 Have Escaped from a Lab?’ Boston Magazine. 9 September 2020. https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2020/09/09/alina-chan-broad-institute-coronavirus/
Nicholson Baker’s long essay in New York Magazine in January Nicholson Baker. ‘The Lab-Leak Hypothesis’. New York Magazine. 4 January 2021. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/coronavirus-lab-escape-theory.html
Our own articles in the Wall Street Journal in January and the Telegraph in March Alina Chan and Matt Ridley. ‘The World Needs a Real Investigation into the Origins of Covid-19’. Wall Street Journal. 15 January 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-needs-a-real-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-19-11610728316; see also Matt Ridley and Alina Chan. ‘Did the Covid-19 Virus Really Escape From a Wuhan Lab?’ Daily Telegraph. 29 March 2021. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/06/did-covid-19-virus-really-escape-wuhan-lab/
Dr Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo of the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris Courtier V. and Decroly, E. ‘Covid-19: Why the Lab Leak Theory Must Be Formally Investigated’. The Conversation. 2 June 2021. https://theconversation.com/covid-19-why-the-lab-leak-theory-must-be-formally-investigated-161297
Steven Quay’s lengthy manuscript Quay MD PhD, Steven Carl. (2021, 29 January). ‘A Bayesian Analysis Concludes Beyond a Reasonable Doubt that SARS-CoV-2 Is Not a Natural Zoonosis But Instead Is Laboratory Derived (Version 2)’. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4477081
Angus Dalgleish and Birger Sørensen Sørensen, B., Dalgleish, A., & Susrud, A. (2020). ‘The Evidence Which Suggests That This Is No Naturally Evolved Virus A Reconstructed Historical Aetiology of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike’
The Washington Post accused Senator Tom Cotton Paulina Firozi. ‘Tom Cotton Keeps Repeating a Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory That Was Already Debunked’. Washington Post. 17 February 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/16/tom-cotton-coronavirus-conspiracy/
the New York Times said the Wuhan laboratory had been ‘the focus of unfounded conspiracy theories promoted by the Trump administration’ New York Times on Facebook. 3 February 2021. https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/10152595350679999
National Public Radio reported that ‘scientists debunk lab accident theory’ when actually they had (barely) rebutted the genetic-manipulation theory Geoff Brumfiel. ‘Scientists Debunk Lab Accident Theory of Pandemic Emergence’. NPR, All Things Considered. 22 April 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/841925672/scientists-debunk-lab-accident-theory-of-pandemic-emergence
the letter in Science that eighteen scientists signed in mid-May Bloom, J. D., Chan, Y. A., Baric, R. S., Bjorkman, P. J., Cobey, S., Deverman, B. E., Fisman, D. N., Gupta, R., Iwasaki, A., Lipsitch, M., Medzhitov, R., Neher, R. A., Nielsen, R., Patterson, N., Stearns, T., van Nimwegen, E., Worobey, M., & Relman, D. A. (2021). ‘Investigate the Origins of COVID-19’. Science (New York, N.Y.), 372(6543), 694. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj0016
Nicholas Wade’s long essay in Medium Nicholas Wade. ‘Origin of Covid – Following the Clues’. Medium. 2 May 2020. https://nicholaswade.medium.com/origin-of-covid-following-the-clues-6f03564c038
The Wall Street Journal detailed an intelligence report Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel and Drew Hinshaw. ‘Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin’. Wall Street Journal. 23 May 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/intelligence-on-sick-staff-at-wuhan-lab-fuels-debate-on-covid-19-origin-11621796228
Facebook reversed its policy Cristiano Lima. ‘Facebook No Longer Treating “Man-Made” Covid as a Crackpot Idea’. Politico. 26 May 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/26/facebook-ban-covid-man-made-491053
Ian Birrell of the Mail on Sunday wrote an excoriating article Ian Birrell. ‘What a Wuhan Lab Leak Would Really Mean’. Unherd. 26 May 2021. https://unherd.com/2021/05/what-if-there-was-a-lab-leak
Even the New York Times finally caved in Zeynep Tufekci. ‘Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling’. New York Times. 25 June 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/opinion/coronavirus-lab.html
the Chinese state-controlled media appeared to have given up Huang Lanlan. ‘With Records of “Lab-Created Coronaviruses” Incidents, Supervision Loopholes and Audacious Germ Researchers, What Really Happened in US’ UNC Labs?’ Global Times. 9 August 2021. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230914.shtml; see also: Huang Lanlan and Zhang Hui. ‘With Records of “Lab-Created Coronaviruses” Incidents, Supervision Loopholes, and Audacious Germ Researchers, What Really Happened in US’ UNC and Fort Detrick Labs?’ Global Times. 18 August 2021. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231868.shtml
On 10 August the Swiss embassy in Beijing took to Twitter Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing @SwissEmbChina Twitter. 10 August 2021. https://twitter.com/swissembchina/status/1425042973289504770; see also: Suranjana Tewari. ‘China: Swiss Embassy Urges Media to Remove Scientist Fake News’. BBC. 11 August 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58168588
Two young activists Gao Feng. ‘Researchers Jailed Over GitHub Stash of Pandemic Content Banned in China’. Radio Free Asia. 18 August 2021. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/banned-08182021133234.html
A citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan Amy Chang Chien and Austin Ramzy. ‘Chinese Citizen Who Documented Wuhan Outbreak Falls Ill in Prison Hunger Strike’. New York Times. 25 August 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/world/asia/china-zhang-zhan-hunger-strike.html
Chinese reporters who spoke to Peter Hessler from the New Yorker Peter Hessler. ‘Nine Days in Wuhan, the Ground Zero of the Coronavirus Pandemic’. New Yorker. 5 October 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/12/nine-days-in-wuhan-the-ground-zero-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic
The New York Times reported Julian E. Barnes. ‘Intelligence Review Yields No Firm Conclusion on Origins of Coronavirus’. New York Times. 27 August 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/us/politics/covid-origin-lab-leak.html
The Wall Street Journal remarked The Editorial Board. ‘The Covid Origin Muddle’. Wall Street Journal. 27 August 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-covid-origin-muddle-joe-biden-intelligence-community-report-11630102087
The three WIV workers Bari Weiss. ‘You’re Already Living in China’s World Pt 1: The Lab Leak Lies’. Honestly with Bari Weiss. 23 August 2021. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/honestly-with-bari-weiss/id1570872415?i=1000532793045
At the end of July Francis S. Collins. Letter to Senator Grassley. 28 July 2021. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/national_institutes_of_health_to_grassley_-_covid_origins_grant_oversight.pdf
On 6 September 2021 Sharon Lerner and Mara Hvistendahl. ‘New Details Emerge About Coronavirus Research at Chinese Lab’. Intercept. 6 September 2021. https://theintercept.com/2021/09/06/new-details-emerge-about-coronavirus-research-at-chinese-lab/
the WIV is known to have Wuhan Institute of Virology. Measures for the Administration of Information Disclosure Work of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 30 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20210427041645/http://www.whiov.cas.cn/xxgk_160268/xxgkzd_160271/201911/t20191103_5420266.html