The WHO team of investigators in China gave a status report on their investigation into the origin of COVID-19 at their press conference on Feb. 9. According to Global Times, the long-awaited investigation shot down the all too easy answers.
Tests on bats and pangolins (a kind of anteater) found that the infections present are simply not close enough to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hence, if mutations from these made their way to humans, there would have to be some yet unknown intermediary animal in such a transmission from, e.g., bat to humans. Antibody testing was done of 11,000 samples from pigs, cows, goats, chickens and ducks; and 12,000 swab tests of wild animals were done. All tests were negative. No link has yet been found. The team reported that, after their field studies in China, “we need to conduct more surveys of certain animals that could be reservoirs of the virus, and bats, not only in China.” One member, Peter Daszak, told Global Times: “There was a virus from Thailand close to the SARS-CoV-2, and also Japan and Cambodia…. “ Hence, the WHO team would next be following up on those.
The leader of the WHO team, Peter Ben Embarek, confirmed as credible China’s suspicion that imported frozen food might have been a conveyer of the virus. He himself is a food safety scientist. Evidently, the virus survives a long time, and can travel great distances, at low temperatures. One path now is to examine the trail of some of the frozen food suppliers to the Wuhan seafood market. Embarek said: “It’s important to make sure we are not geopolitically bound, as the virus passing from animals to the Huanan market could take a long path involving movement across borders and travels before reaching the Huanan market.”
