Where did the COVID come from? WHO investigation begins, but faces challenges

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced plans to investigate the cause of the COVID pandemic. The search begins in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was first identified, and extends beyond China. Tracking the path of the virus is important to prevent future spread of the virus, but scientists say the WHO team faces difficult challenges.

Most researchers believe that the virus comes from bats, but it’s unclear how it infects people. Other coronaviruses have passed from intermediate animal hosts. For example, the virus that caused the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) between 2002 and 2004 probably infects raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) Or a civet.

“Finding an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2 is like looking for a needle in the world’s largest haystack. Angela Rasmusen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York City, said” smoking bats “and He says he may never find other animals. “It will be important for researchers to collaborate with Chinese scientists and government officials.”

Determining the origin of the virus, if at all possible, can take years, and investigations also need to navigate the highly sensitive political situation between China and the United States. “We call this the Chinese virus, and the Chinese government is making every effort to prove that it is not a Chinese virus,” said US President Donald Trump, Rinfa, a virologist at Duke National University of Singapore School of Medicine.・ One says. Wang, who was part of WHO’s mission to explore the origins of SARS in China in 2003, means that the game of political condemnation has not released important details about ongoing research in China. Is called.

He hopes that the situation in the new US administration will not be more volatile.Presidential election Joe Biden also said he would reverse Trump’s withdrawal from WHO.. Support from China and the United States “creates a much more positive environment for conducting research in this area,” Wang said.

Search starts in Wuhan

An international team of epidemiologists, virologists, and researchers with expertise in public health, animal health, and food safety will lead the WHO COVID-19 study. The agency does not publish their name.

The team will hold its first virtual meeting with Chinese researchers on October 30, reviewing preliminary evidence and developing research protocols, WHO said. Officials say the early stages of the investigation in Wuhan will probably be done by researchers already in China, and international researchers will travel to China after reviewing their results.

In Wuhan, researchers will take a closer look at the meat and animal market in South China, which was visited by many of the early people diagnosed with COVID-19. The role of the market in the spread of the virus remains a mystery. Early research sampled dead frozen animals on the market, but found no evidence of SARS-CoV-2. November 5th Report Of the WHO mission consignment conditions. However, environmental samples, mainly taken from drains and sewage, tested positive for viruses. “Preliminary research does not provide reliable clues to narrow the field of study,” the report said.

WHO’s mission is to investigate wild and domestic animals sold in Maquette, such as foxes and raccoons (Raccoon rotor) And sika deer (Sika deer). They also explore other markets in Wuhan and track animal journeys across the border with China. Investigators prioritize animals known to be susceptible to the virus, such as cats and mink.

The team will also look at Wuhan hospital records to see if the virus had spread before December 2019. Researchers will interview the first people identified as infected with COVID-19 to find out and test where they were exposed. Blood samples from medical staff, laboratory technicians, and farm workers collected weeks to months before December looking for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The report acknowledges that some of this work may already be underway in China.

Long-term plan

The first investigation in Wuhan will inform long-term research on the origin of the pandemic and may take investigators outside China. “The place where the epidemic was first detected does not necessarily reflect where it started,” the WHO report said, a virus detected in sewage samples before the first case was identified. Mentions a preliminary report of RNA.

This statement can refer to the study¹Raina MacIntyre, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, retrospectively tested a March 2019 Spanish sewage sample and found the SARS-CoV-2 fragment, pre-reviewed without peer review. It states that it was posted to the print server medRxiv. “If this study is correct, we need to ask about the status of the virus in Spain last March,” she says.

Wang said plans to look beyond China are wise, given that bats have been extensively monitored in China since the outbreak of SARS in 2002 and only distant relatives of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified. I am. More and more experts believe that SARS-CoV-2’s direct or closely related ancestors are likely to be found in bats outside of China, Wang said. He states that the WHO team needs to investigate bats and other wildlife throughout Southeast Asia for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Martin Beer, a virologist at the Federal Institute of Animal Health in Riems, Germany, also prioritized carnivorous mammals raised for fur, such as raccoon dogs and civets, who were involved in the outbreak of SARS. It states that it needs to be attached. “It’s surprising that the report doesn’t mention these animals, and there’s no information from China about whether these animals have been tested,” says Beer.

A WHO spokesperson said the mission was science-guided and “open-minded and repetitive, without eliminating hypotheses that could contribute to the generation of evidence and the narrowing of the focus of research.”