Covid-19 Lab Leak Theory Should Not Be Ruled Out Says Former Head Of China’s CDC

Topline

The former head of China’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said the theory that the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 may have leaked from a lab should not be ruled out, BBC News reported, in an apparent divergence from the Chinese government’s vocal opposition to any suggestion that the virus may have originated from a lab.

Key Facts

Contra

Despite the lab leak theory gaining some backing from a few U.S. federal agencies and some lawmakers across the world (including top Republicans in the U.S.), a majority of scientists back the theory that the coronavirus originated from a bat and eventually jumped into humans—likely through one or several intermediate species. In March, an international team of scientists said they found genetic data which links the origins of the virus with raccoon dogs being sold in Wuhan’s wet market. The findings are based on swabs collected from in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic. The data shows that raccoon dogs being sold in the market may have been “carrying and possibly shedding” at the end of 2019. Although it does not definitely prove that raccoon dogs carried the virus or passed the virus on to humans, it remains the strongest piece of evidence linking animals at the wet market with the virus.