Thread by @PeterDaszak

.@WHO Press conference begins in Wuhan. The whole expert group is in a room just 100 yds away, watching on the big screen & live tweeting. @MarionKoopmans represents the expert group on the call. @Peterfoodsafety Team lead for WHO side & Dr. Liang Wannian, taking the lead here.

We're watching live on @cgtn - available in most countries if you want to listen in, or you can try to log on to the zoom.

Join the WHO press conference:
Zoom link:
who-e.zoom.us/j/97848217705
Password: WHO+OMS+
Phone
Webinar ID: 978 4821 7705
Numeric Passcode for telephone: [phone]
International numbers available: who-e.zoom.us/u/abkVw3i1u
3:31 PM

Here we are - watching on with the rest of the world!

Here's @HumeField, who was on the original SARS @WHOGOARN outbreak investigation watching from Australia!

The first of our team to leave @hung_cenpher is watching from an airport on the way home.

We said goodbye to Dominic Dwyer last night. What a trooper - he’s now got to do ANOTHER 2 wks quarantine in a hotel room in Sydney. That’s the level of dedication and service we’ve seen from both teams - China & @WHO

One of my bros watching from Sweden. Crack open a bottle of Rioja, we're just warming up.

Key points already from Prof. Liang: Huanan market IS a key part of this outbreak, but analysis in this study suggests there was substantial transmission in the community in early Dec. & that some of these were the 1st known Huanan-market associated cases. Press pack watching..

.@Peterfoodsafety & @MarionKoopmans representing the .@WHO team

Epi team led by @TheaKFischer & her China Counterpart (names not made public yet) led a very deep study of early cases. Clear evidence of significant early spread in Dec. including outside of Huanan market. Doesn't indicate Huanan was not spillover event, but could be elsewhere.

HUGE comment here: Evidence "indicates a natural origin of SARS-CoV-2". "Vendors were trading domesticated wildlife products..frozen". "From farms within the country".

This picture is the key - the pathways we examined. We have concluded the rough likelihood of each of these, based on the joint study.

.@HumeField nailing it in realtime...

Important: Our joint team examined 4 main hypotheses: 1) Direct from wildlife to people 2) via intermediate hosts 3) via cold chain products, particularly food 4) A lab "incident". Yes, the @WHO team DID look at the lab release hypothesis seriously. Conclusion will follow.

IMPORTANT: The joint team concluded that direct or indirect spillover, cold chain food pathways are potentially important. Lab incident is "Extremely unlikely to explain introduction of SARS-CoV-2 & further work on this is not necessary for further research from this study"

You said it Hume. I was one voice in this team of 17 from @WHO and >20 on China side. We asked the key questions, discussed the evidence. The opinion was a unanimous one. I deferred my comments until everyone else had spoken.

KEY COMMENT: Recommendations include sampling potential intermediate hosts & bats both inside & outside China. Possible role of cold chain - incl. "Frozen wild animal that could have been infected by [progenitor] of SARS-CoV-2"

This virus may have emerged through "convoluted pathways that may have taken a long time and moved it across borders"

Q&A now: What are the probabilities on diff pathways? @MarionKoopmans. We will list all the elements used to make the assessment in our report.

Here's THE Moment I've been waiting for!!!! @CGTV What possible infection sources in Huanan market? "could have been introduced by a person, or a product (e.g. frozen farmed wildlife INCLUDING SPECIES SUSCEPTIBLE TO COVID)"..

KEY question: What is rationale for dismissing lab hypothesis? Accidents happen (many examples) not impossible, no reports of this virus anywhere in world prior to COVID, discussed w/ managers in many labs here re. audits, staff health. THEN YES - live feed mysteriously stops...

Bizarre moment here. We tried everything to get the feed back but only managed after lab leak answer. Ironic because of course we all know the detail of what we asked in WIV

KEY finding Re. earlier cases: @MarionKoopmans detailed searching of databases of Fevers of unknown origin, excess mortality, range of other factors. NO solid evidence found of widespread circulation & cases prior to December. Possible there were some, but solid conclusion here.

IMPORTANT Q: @WSJ Exactly what animals found at Huanan mrkt?? "Testing showed no positives, but some animals that are known to be susceptible to CoVs like ferret badger" "some of trace-back in farms or regions where bats harbor related CoVs". This, to me, is a CRITICAL finding!!

On Gain of Function work at Wuhan Inst. Virol. "We had detailed discussion w/ people there about all aspects of lab leak hypothesis & received satisfactory answers. Minutes of our meetings will be in the full report."

A touching moment for us all in the room here. 1st, the human reality & emotion of working closely for 28 days++ w/ colleagues + the emotional shock of mtg w/ former patients & people who've lost loved ones.