The theory that explains the origin and expansion of the pandemic based on a leak – intentional or accidental – from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan grows stronger with the passing of time. It has gone from being a mere hypothesis of the ‘ conspiracy ‘ encouraged by Donald Trump to being one of the most plausible theories. At least that’s what the intelligence services of the United Kingdom and the United States point to. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reflects in a report that this theory of the origin of the coronavirus is ” extremely unlikely.”
How did the coronavirus pandemic originate? That is the key question that has yet to find a clear answer 18 months after the first outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan . The theory of natural origin and accidental exposure to the virus has gone from indisputable to being just one more scenario. More and more evidence is accumulating to support the version, until now practically banned, that the pathogen was able to escape from a research laboratory in the Chinese city.
Spain has not positioned itself in this regard, while the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States or France begin to give much plausibility to the theory of the accident in the laboratory. Especially after the reports that the secret services of those countries have been preparing in this regard.
However, the Ministry of Health does address the controversial issue of the origin of the coronavirus pandemic in an official document that updates every several months and is briefly titled Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 . It bears the signature of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies directed by Fernando Simón .
The 23-page section of this document includes the various theories about the source of infection and ongoing research. “In early 2021, the WHO conducted a second mission to China to investigate the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of the study was to understand when it had started to circulate in Wuhan and how the virus had been transmitted to humans, ”says Health.
The four scenarios
He then describes the four possible scenarios: direct zoonotic transmission (from animal, possibly bat, to human), introduction through an intermediate host (bat-animal-human), introduction through the food chain (that first theory of the ingestion of a bat soup) and, finally, the laboratory accident.
The last two, according to Health, are “possible, but little or very unlikely” theories. “According to this hypothesis, SARS-CoV-2 would be introduced through a laboratory incident, that is, an accidental infection of a worker or a release of infectious material into the environment. The hypothesis of deliberate release after manufacturing with bioengineering techniques is ruled out after the analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, “warns the report from the Carolina Darias department.
“Although they are rare , laboratory accidents do occur and many laboratories around the world are working with bat coronavirus,” warns Health in its report.
“When working with virus cultures, animal inoculations or clinical samples, human beings can become infected in laboratories with poor biosafety conditions, due to poor security practice or negligence,” they explain.
Wuhan and the suspicious strain
Health collects in this report the fact that the Wuhan virology laboratory suspected of the leak was working on the sequencing of the RaTG13 coronavirus strain. A pathogen that was discovered among bats that inhabit a cave in Yunnan (China). The finding was in 2013 and the virus shares its structure 96.2% with the SARs-CoV-2 produced by Covid.
As reported by Health, this Chinese research institute in Wuhan moved to its new location in December 2019. Now it is near the Huanan market, where the first outbreak was decreed.
“Extremely unlikely”
‘Such movements can be detrimental to the operations of any laboratory. However, all three laboratories working with CoV diagnostics and / or CoV isolation had high level biosafety facilities (BSL3 or 4) that were well managed, with a staff health surveillance program. During the weeks / months prior to December 2019 there were no cases of respiratory disease among workers, “he warns, in line with what China says to defend that its management of the crisis was not negligent.
“Due to the above, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 in a laboratory incident is considered by the WHO mission as extremely unlikely, ” recalls Health.
