NO EVIDENCE IT IS NOT ZOONOSIS
Covid-19 'Not Developed' As Biological Weapon, Says US Intelligence Community
China has denied a genetically modified coronavirus leaked from the facility in Wuhan - where the first COVID-19 cases were detected in 2019.
Pandemics do not respect international borders, and we all must better understand how COVID-19 came to be in order to prevent further pandemics, Biden said.
PTI
LAST UPDATED:AUGUST 28, 2021
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was “not developed" as a biological weapon, the US intelligence community has concluded in a report, with President Joe Biden reiterating the allegation that China continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information about the origins of the virus.
The Director of National Intelligence in a report, prepared at the direction of the president, on Friday said SARS-CoV-2 probably emerged and infected humans through an initial small-scale exposure that occurred no later than November 2019 with the first known cluster of COVID-19 cases arising in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
However, there was no unanimity among the intelligence community (IC) on the origins of the coronavirus. The virus was not developed as a biological weapon. Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered; however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way, said the unclassified version of the report.
The IC also assesses that China’s officials did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of COVID-19 emerged, it said. After examining all available intelligence reporting and other information, though, the IC remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19. All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident, the report said.
Four IC elements and the National Intelligence Council assess with low confidence that the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection was most likely caused by natural exposure to an animal infected with it or a close progenitor virus-a virus that probably would be more than 99 per cent similar to SARS-CoV-2. These analysts give weight to Chinese officials’ lack of foreknowledge, the numerous vectors for natural exposure, and other factors, the report said.
One IC element assesses with moderate confidence that the first human infection with SARS-CoV-2 most likely was the result of a laboratory-associated incident, probably involving experimentation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology. These analysts give weight to the inherently risky nature of work on coronaviruses, it said.
Analysts at three IC elements remain unable to coalesce around either explanation without additional information, with some analysts favouring natural origin, others a laboratory origin, and some seeing the hypotheses as equally likely. Variations in analytic views largely stem from differences in how agencies weigh intelligence reporting and scientific publications, and intelligence and scientific gaps, the report said.
Meanwhile, acknowledging the receipt of the report, Biden in a statement said his administration will do everything it can to trace the roots of this outbreak that has caused so much pain and death around the world, so that they can take every necessary precaution to prevent it from happening again. Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in China, “yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it", he said.
To this day, China continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continue to rise, Biden alleged. According to Johns Hopkins university data, the deadly virus has so far infected 215,290,716 people and claimed 4,483,136 lives globally. The US is the worst-hit with a total of 38,682,072 infections and 636,565 deaths recorded so far.
The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them. Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world. Pandemics do not respect international borders, and we all must better understand how COVID-19 came to be in order to prevent further pandemics, Biden said.
America will continue working with like-minded partners around the world to press China to fully share information and to cooperate with the World Health OrganiSation’s Phase II evidence-based, expert-led determination into the origins of COVID-19 including by providing access to all relevant data and evidence, he said.
Biden said the US will also continue to press China to adhere to scientific norms and standards, including sharing information and data from the earliest days of the pandemic, protocols related to bio-safety, and information from animal populations. “We must have a full and transparent accounting of this global tragedy. Nothing less is acceptable, he said.
US intelligence unsure if Coronavirus emerged from lab leak or animals
By Matthew Knott
Updated August 28, 2021 —
Washington: The US intelligence community is unsure whether the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory or emerged naturally through animals, but most agencies believe it was probably not engineered in a lab.
The findings were contained in a much-awaited unclassified version of an intelligence report commissioned by US President Joe Biden to probe the origins of the virus.
An employee studying coronavirus in a laboratory in Wuhan in February, 2020, during the first outbreak. CREDIT:AP
A classified version of the report, prepared by the office of the Director of National Intelligence, was delivered to the White House earlier this week.
The inconclusive nature of the report will likely only heighten, rather than end, the increasingly heated and partisan debate in the US about the origins of the coronavirus.
Prominent Republican politicians have been adamant the virus originated from a lab leak and have sought to tie infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci to funding for so-called “gain-of-function” research (which alters biological organisms to enhance their property) into coronaviruses.
Following the release of the report Biden blasted China for stymieing probes into the origins of the virus by blocking investigators from accessing crucial lab records and samples.
“To this day, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continue to rise,” Biden said in a statement.
“We needed this information rapidly, from the PRC, while the pandemic was still new.”
Biden said that nothing less than a “full and transparent accounting of this global tragedy” would be acceptable.
Fringe, feasible or false? The COVID-19 Wuhan lab leak theory gets a second look
“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.”
The two-page summary states that most US intelligence agencies believe that SARS-CoV-2 was probably not engineered in a lab.
Two other agencies said they did not have enough evidence to make a call either way given China’s efforts to block any independent investigation into the origins of the virus.
“All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated accident,” the unclassified report states.
The report says there is broad agreement in the intelligence community that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon and that Chinese officials did not have advance knowledge before the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
Residents line up to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, this month. CREDIT:AP
Four elements of the intelligence community and the National Intelligence Council assessed that the initial outbreak was most likely caused by natural exposure to an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2 or an extremely similar virus.
“These analysts give weight to China’s officials’ lack of foreknowledge, the numerous vectors for natural exposure, and other factors,” the report states.
The assessment is classed as “low confidence”, meaning that while analysts believe this is the most likely scenario, they have questions about the credibility or plausibility of some information underlying the assessment.
One element in the intelligence community said they believed the first human infection was probably the result of a laboratory-associated incident. This likely involved experimentation, animal handling or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“These analysts give weight to the inherently risky nature of work on coronaviruses,” the report states.
This assessment is classed as “moderate confidence”, meaning the analysts believe the underlying information is plausible and comes from credible sources.
By Matthew Knott
Updated August 28, 2021 —
Washington: The US intelligence community is unsure whether the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory or emerged naturally through animals, but most agencies believe it was probably not engineered in a lab.
The findings were contained in a much-awaited unclassified version of an intelligence report commissioned by US President Joe Biden to probe the origins of the virus.
An employee studying coronavirus in a laboratory in Wuhan in February, 2020, during the first outbreak. CREDIT:AP
A classified version of the report, prepared by the office of the Director of National Intelligence, was delivered to the White House earlier this week.
The inconclusive nature of the report will likely only heighten, rather than end, the increasingly heated and partisan debate in the US about the origins of the coronavirus.
Prominent Republican politicians have been adamant the virus originated from a lab leak and have sought to tie infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci to funding for so-called “gain-of-function” research (which alters biological organisms to enhance their property) into coronaviruses.
Following the release of the report Biden blasted China for stymieing probes into the origins of the virus by blocking investigators from accessing crucial lab records and samples.
“To this day, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continue to rise,” Biden said in a statement.
“We needed this information rapidly, from the PRC, while the pandemic was still new.”
Biden said that nothing less than a “full and transparent accounting of this global tragedy” would be acceptable.
Fringe, feasible or false? The COVID-19 Wuhan lab leak theory gets a second look
“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.”
The two-page summary states that most US intelligence agencies believe that SARS-CoV-2 was probably not engineered in a lab.
Two other agencies said they did not have enough evidence to make a call either way given China’s efforts to block any independent investigation into the origins of the virus.
“All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated accident,” the unclassified report states.
The report says there is broad agreement in the intelligence community that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon and that Chinese officials did not have advance knowledge before the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
Residents line up to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, this month. CREDIT:AP
Four elements of the intelligence community and the National Intelligence Council assessed that the initial outbreak was most likely caused by natural exposure to an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2 or an extremely similar virus.
“These analysts give weight to China’s officials’ lack of foreknowledge, the numerous vectors for natural exposure, and other factors,” the report states.
The assessment is classed as “low confidence”, meaning that while analysts believe this is the most likely scenario, they have questions about the credibility or plausibility of some information underlying the assessment.
One element in the intelligence community said they believed the first human infection was probably the result of a laboratory-associated incident. This likely involved experimentation, animal handling or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“These analysts give weight to the inherently risky nature of work on coronaviruses,” the report states.
This assessment is classed as “moderate confidence”, meaning the analysts believe the underlying information is plausible and comes from credible sources.
By NOMAAN MERCHANT
In this Feb. 6, 2021, file a worker in protectively overalls and carrying disinfecting equipment walks outside the Wuhan Central Hospital where Li Wenliang, the whistleblower doctor who sounded the alarm and was reprimanded by local police for it in the early days of Wuhan's pandemic, worked in Wuhan in central China. U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China's leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday, Aug. 27, of a review ordered by President Joe Biden.
In this Feb. 6, 2021, file a worker in protectively overalls and carrying disinfecting equipment walks outside the Wuhan Central Hospital where Li Wenliang, the whistleblower doctor who sounded the alarm and was reprimanded by local police for it in the early days of Wuhan's pandemic, worked in Wuhan in central China. U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China's leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday, Aug. 27, of a review ordered by President Joe Biden.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China’s leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday of a review ordered by President Joe Biden.
According to an unclassified summary, four members of the U.S. intelligence community say with low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believes with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab. Analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon and most agencies believe the virus was not genetically engineered.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday that China “continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.” Reaching a conclusion about what caused the virus likely requires China’s cooperation, the office said.
The cause of the coronavirus remains an urgent public health and security concern worldwide. In the U.S., many conservatives have accused Chinese scientists of developing COVID-19 in a lab and allowing it to leak. State Department officials under former President Donald Trump published a fact sheet noting research into coronaviruses conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the Chinese city where the first major known outbreak occurred.
The scientific consensus remains that the virus most likely migrated from animals in what’s known as a zoonotic transmission. So-called “spillover events” occur in nature, and there are at least two coronaviruses that evolved in bats and caused human epidemics, SARS1 and MERS.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China’s leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday of a review ordered by President Joe Biden.
According to an unclassified summary, four members of the U.S. intelligence community say with low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believes with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab. Analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon and most agencies believe the virus was not genetically engineered.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday that China “continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.” Reaching a conclusion about what caused the virus likely requires China’s cooperation, the office said.
The cause of the coronavirus remains an urgent public health and security concern worldwide. In the U.S., many conservatives have accused Chinese scientists of developing COVID-19 in a lab and allowing it to leak. State Department officials under former President Donald Trump published a fact sheet noting research into coronaviruses conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the Chinese city where the first major known outbreak occurred.
The scientific consensus remains that the virus most likely migrated from animals in what’s known as a zoonotic transmission. So-called “spillover events” occur in nature, and there are at least two coronaviruses that evolved in bats and caused human epidemics, SARS1 and MERS.
In a statement, Biden said China had obstructed efforts to investigate the virus “from the beginning.”
“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” he said. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.”
China’s foreign ministry attacked the U.S. investigation ahead of the report’s release. Fu Cong, a foreign ministry director general, said at a briefing for foreign journalists that “scapegoating China cannot whitewash the U.S.”
“If they want to baselessly accuse China, they better be prepared to accept the counterattack from China,” he said.
Biden in May ordered a 90-day review of what the White House said was an initial finding leading to “two likely scenarios”: an animal-to-human transmission or a lab leak. The White House said then that two agencies in the 18-member intelligence community leaned toward the hypothesis of a transmission in nature and another agency leaned toward a lab leak.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday did not identify which agencies supported either hypothesis. But it noted some of the same hurdles facing the World Health Organization and scientists worldwide: a lack of clinical samples and data from the earliest cases of COVID-19.
In conducting the review, intelligence agencies consulted with allied nations and experts outside of government. An epidemiologist was brought into the National Intelligence Council, a group of senior experts that consults the head of the intelligence community.
China Urges WHO to Probe US Bio Lab
The latter document, published in full by Xinhua, calls into question U.S. epidemiologist Dr. Ralph Baric’s work into coronaviruses, including gain-of-function research, and points to his team’s research into synthesizing and modifying SARS-related coronaviruses going back to at least 2003, including bat-related coronaviruses, since at least 2008.
Meanwhile, Fu Cong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s department of arms control and disarmament, commented during a press briefing on Chen’s letter, suggesting that “the international community has long been seriously concerned about Fort Detrick,” and pointing to the facility’s “advanced capabilities to synthesize and modify SARS-related coronaviruses as early as 2003.”
Fu pointed to “multiple” alleged biological safety-related accidents taking place at the institute, including the mysterious July 2019 shutdown, after which “outbreaks of respiratory diseases sharing similar symptoms of COVID-19” began to be reported “in the communities near Fort Detrick.”
in Search for COVID Origin
WIV received 2 visits by WHO experts, concluding a lab origin is extremely unlikely. Fort Detrick & UNC has long-running coronavirus research & poor safety records. The US, insisting on the lab leak theory, should open up FD & UNC for international investigation. | Photo: Twitter @MFA_China
Published 26 August 2021
Washington and Beijing are in the midst of a heated exchange of accusations, pointing fingers at each other in terms of the responsibility for unleashing the coronavirus pandemic on the world. U.S. officials claim that the virus may have been unleashed due to a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while Chinese officials claim it may have originated in a U.S. military bio lab.
Chen Xu, China’s permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, has sent the World Health Organisation a formal request asking the global health authority to open an investigation into Fort Detrick, the Maryland-based U.S. Army laboratory once known as the center of America’s biological weapons program, and its possible role in the origins of the novel coronavirus.
China Urges Us To Stop Political Manipulation on COVID Origins
Chen reiterated in his letter Beijing’s position on SARS-CoV-2, which matches the conclusions of the joint WHO-China team´s research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and in the city, stating that the Wuhan lab leak theory is an “extremely unlikely” scenario.
The letter went on to ask the WHO to probe the lab at Fort Detrick, and to investigate research carried out by University of North Carolina professor Ralph Baric, suggesting that “if some parties are of the view that the "lab leak" hypothesis remains open, it is the labs of Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina in the U.S. that should be subject to transparent investigation with full access.”
Chen accompanied his letter with an online petition signed by over 25 million Chinese nationals demanding an investigation into Fort Detrick, as well as two documents, entitled “Doubtful Points About Fort Detrick” and “Coronavirus Research Conducted by Dr. Ralph Baric’s Team at the University of North Carolina".
WIV received 2 visits by WHO experts, concluding a lab origin is extremely unlikely. Fort Detrick & UNC has long-running coronavirus research & poor safety records. The US, insisting on the lab leak theory, should open up FD & UNC for international investigation. | Photo: Twitter @MFA_China
Published 26 August 2021
Washington and Beijing are in the midst of a heated exchange of accusations, pointing fingers at each other in terms of the responsibility for unleashing the coronavirus pandemic on the world. U.S. officials claim that the virus may have been unleashed due to a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while Chinese officials claim it may have originated in a U.S. military bio lab.
Chen Xu, China’s permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, has sent the World Health Organisation a formal request asking the global health authority to open an investigation into Fort Detrick, the Maryland-based U.S. Army laboratory once known as the center of America’s biological weapons program, and its possible role in the origins of the novel coronavirus.
China Urges Us To Stop Political Manipulation on COVID Origins
Chen reiterated in his letter Beijing’s position on SARS-CoV-2, which matches the conclusions of the joint WHO-China team´s research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and in the city, stating that the Wuhan lab leak theory is an “extremely unlikely” scenario.
The letter went on to ask the WHO to probe the lab at Fort Detrick, and to investigate research carried out by University of North Carolina professor Ralph Baric, suggesting that “if some parties are of the view that the "lab leak" hypothesis remains open, it is the labs of Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina in the U.S. that should be subject to transparent investigation with full access.”
Chen accompanied his letter with an online petition signed by over 25 million Chinese nationals demanding an investigation into Fort Detrick, as well as two documents, entitled “Doubtful Points About Fort Detrick” and “Coronavirus Research Conducted by Dr. Ralph Baric’s Team at the University of North Carolina".
The latter document, published in full by Xinhua, calls into question U.S. epidemiologist Dr. Ralph Baric’s work into coronaviruses, including gain-of-function research, and points to his team’s research into synthesizing and modifying SARS-related coronaviruses going back to at least 2003, including bat-related coronaviruses, since at least 2008.
Meanwhile, Fu Cong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s department of arms control and disarmament, commented during a press briefing on Chen’s letter, suggesting that “the international community has long been seriously concerned about Fort Detrick,” and pointing to the facility’s “advanced capabilities to synthesize and modify SARS-related coronaviruses as early as 2003.”
Fu pointed to “multiple” alleged biological safety-related accidents taking place at the institute, including the mysterious July 2019 shutdown, after which “outbreaks of respiratory diseases sharing similar symptoms of COVID-19” began to be reported “in the communities near Fort Detrick.”
Earlier this month, China rejected a push by the WHO to continue its investigation into COVID-19’s origins at the Wuhan lab, citing their support for "scientific, not politicized" theories on the virus’s roots. On 12 August, the world health authority called on Beijing to share raw data on the earliest cases of Covid.
US President Joe Biden, who spent the 2020 campaign dismissing then-president Donald Trump’s claims on Covid’s Wuhan potential man-made origins, reversed course and ordered a probe into how the virus may have spread to humans in May, giving intelligence agencies until the end of August to put a report on his desk. Chinese media have accused Washington of using “second-hand, unreliable evidence to compile a report that tries to smear China,” while officials in Beijing continue to support the original WHO-China joint study, which concluded that a leak from the Wuhan lab was “highly unlikely”.
US President Joe Biden, who spent the 2020 campaign dismissing then-president Donald Trump’s claims on Covid’s Wuhan potential man-made origins, reversed course and ordered a probe into how the virus may have spread to humans in May, giving intelligence agencies until the end of August to put a report on his desk. Chinese media have accused Washington of using “second-hand, unreliable evidence to compile a report that tries to smear China,” while officials in Beijing continue to support the original WHO-China joint study, which concluded that a leak from the Wuhan lab was “highly unlikely”.
U.S. intelligence community says it cannot solve COVID mystery without China
The word "COVID-19" is reflected in a drop on a syringe needle in this illustration
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. intelligence community does not believe it can resolve a debate over whether a Chinese laboratory incident was the source of COVID-19 without more information, U.S. officials said in a declassified summary on Friday.
U.S. officials said only China can help solve questions about the true origins of the virus that has now killed https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps 4.6 million people worldwide. “China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19,” they said.
President Joe Biden, who received a classified report earlier this week summarizing the investigation he had ordered, said Washington and its allies will continue to press the Chinese government for answers.
“Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it,” Biden said in a statement after the summary was released.
The summary, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, was set to worsen discord between Beijing and Washington at a time when the countries’ ties are at their lowest point in decades. In the United States, activists worried the investigation could also encourage violence against Asian Americans.
Reuters earlier reported that administration officials did not expect the analysis to settle debate about the virus’ origin.
China has ridiculed a theory that COVID-19 escaped from the state virology lab in Wuhan and pushed fringe theories including that the virus slipped out of a lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland, in 2019.
The U.S. report revealed new detail about the extent of the disagreement within the Biden administration over the so-called lab leak theory.
Several organizations within the sprawling U.S. intelligence community thought the novel coronavirus emerged from “natural exposure to an animal infected with it or a close progenitor virus,” according to the summary.
But they had only “low confidence” in that conclusion, the summary said. Other groups were not able to come to any firm opinion at all on the origins.
One intelligence community segment, however, developed “moderate confidence” that the first human infection with COVID was likely due to a “laboratory-associated incident, probably involving experimentation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology” in China.
A team led by the World Health Organization (WHO) that spent four weeks in and around Wuhan in January and February dismissed that theory. But their March report https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/origins-of-the-virus, which was written jointly with Chinese scientists, has been faulted for using insufficient evidence to dismiss the theory.
The new U.S. report concluded that analysts would not be able to provide “a more definitive explanation” without new information from China, such as clinical samples and epidemiological data about the earliest cases.
Initially, U.S. spy agencies strongly favored the explanation that the virus originated in nature. But people familiar with intelligence reporting have said there has been little corroboration over recent months that the virus had spread widely and naturally among wild animals.
“While this review has concluded, our efforts to understand the origins of this pandemic will not rest,” Biden said. “We will do everything we can to trace the roots of this outbreak that has caused so much pain and death around the world, so that we can take every necessary precaution to prevent it from happening again.”
The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said the group has not ruled out any hypothesis. The Geneva-based organization is set to impanel a new committee to develop next steps on studying the virus SARS-CoV-2.
But epidemiological experts said the window was closing for any useful data to be collected, particularly from people infected by the disease in 2019, when the virus likely first emerged.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Eric Beech and Tim Ahmann in WashingtonEditing by Daniel Wallis and Matthew Lewis)
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