WUHAN (CHINA) – The WHO investigators paid a visit to a virus research facility in Wuhan, China, and met with a key virologist while probing clues regarding the origin of the novel coronavirus.
The team spent about 3-1/2 hours at the closely guarded Wuhan Institute of Virology, the target of conspiracy theories claiming a laboratory leak that caused the first outbreak of the virus in 2019.
“Extremely important meeting today with staff at WIV including Dr Shi Zhengli. Frank, open discussion. Key questions asked & answered,” team member Peter Daszak tweeted.
Shi is better known by her moniker “Bat Woman” because of her long association with bat coronaviruses. She was the first last year to isolate the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The virologist and most scientists dismiss the hypothesis of a lab leak. But some experts believe that a virus captured from the wild could have figured in lab experiments to test the risks of a human spillover and then escaped through an infected employee.
“Very interesting. Many questions,” said Thea Fischer, a Danish member of the team.
Some scientists have urged China to release details of all coronavirus samples analysed in the lab to determine which most closely resembles the SARS-CoV-2.
The WHO said its team members would be limited to visits charted by their Chinese hosts and will have no contact with community members because of health curbs.