WHO's Covid report, detailed considered appraisal.
www.who.int/he...
The mission
Joint international team, 17 Chinese and 17 international experts
14 January to 10 February 2021 in Wuhan
Prevent reinfection, animals and humans
Prevent establishment of new zoonotic reservoirs, mink, cats
Timeline
Outbreak may have started sometime in the months before the middle of December 2019
(Based on molecular sequence data)
Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 preceded the initial detection of cases by several weeks.
Virus transmission widespread in Wuhan by the first week of 2020
Epidemic in Wuhan preceded the spread in the rest of Hubei Province
174 COVID-19 cases with onset of symptoms in December 2019
8th December 2019, first official case
76,000 ‘cases’ from October and November unlikely
Genomics
Huanan market, at the point of its closing, 923 environmental samples, 73 samples were positive
Widespread contamination of surfaces with SARS-CoV-2
Huanan market cluster had identical virus genomes
Other genomes were also discovered from December / January
Upstream suppliers to the Huanan market taken during 2020, no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in animals
Initial cases associated with Huanan market, other markets and no markets
Coronaviruses most highly related to SARS-CoV-2 found in bats and pangolins
None sufficiently similar to SARS-CoV-2 to serve as its direct progenitor
Sampling before and after the outbreak
80 000 wildlife, livestock and poultry samples collected, 31 provinces in China
No positive result for SARS-CoV-2 antibody or nucleic acid
Cold chains
Cold chain products, not tested at the time
Confirmed international transmission in cold chains
Four conclusions
Qualitative risk assessment
Direct zoonotic spillover is considered to be a possible-to-likely pathway
Introduction through an intermediate host is considered to be a likely to very likely pathway
Introduction through cold/ food chain products is considered a possible pathway
Introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway
Next phase
Widespread testing of domestic and wild animals
Rhinolophus bats, southern provinces of China, countries around East Asia, South-East Asia and any other regions
More cold chain analysis
Positive results in sewage, serum, human or animal tissues/swab and other SARS-CoV-2 test by the end of 2019
Convene a global expert group
www.who.int/di...
www.theguardia...
US, UK, Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Statement
It is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns
that the international expert study on the source of the Sars-Cov-2 virus was significantly delayed
and lacked access to complete, original data and samples
While regretting the late start of the study, the delayed deployment of the experts and the limited availability of early samples and related data,
we consider the work carried out to date and the report released today as a helpful first step
EU statement also called on all relevant authorities to help with the next stages
So that any gaps in data needed to further the investigation can be addressed
Called for timely access for independent experts early in future pandemics
Access to China after months of fraught negotiations
White House
No space for this section in YT comments, descriptions are of limited length.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data
I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing
Scientists would benefit from full access to data including biological samples from at least September 2019
I concur with the team’s conclusion that farmers, suppliers and their contacts will need to be interviewed
Team also visited several laboratories in Wuhan and considered the possibility that the virus entered the human population as a result of a laboratory incident.
However, I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough.
Further data and studies will be needed to reach more robust conclusions.
Let me say clearly that as far as WHO is concerned all hypotheses remain on the table.
Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy
This report is a very important beginning, but it is not the end.
27 авг 2024
