Today, a thread debunking (unintentional) misinformation on the origins of covid-19 / SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Starting with the top 10 easily fact-checked ideas or statements that are not true, although a shocking number of scientists still think these are true.
(1) (FALSE) Before COVID, SARS research was done in a BSL4 lab at the WIV.
Actually, SARS research, even the (humanized) animal infection experiments were conducted at BSL2/3.
(2) (FALSE) There is no precedent of SARS viruses escaping from a laboratory.
Actually, SARS virus escaped from labs at least 4 times in 3 countries within a year. One of the labs was a BSL4 lab. Investigators said that SARS virus could have escaped 4 times from a Beijing lab.
(3) (UNCLEAR) SARS-CoV-2 spilled from animal to human at a Wuhan market.
No animal samples from markets were (+) for SARS2. China-WHO team said they don't know the role of the Huanan market in #originsofCOVID19
Current evidence is consistent with both natural and lab origins.
(4) (FALSE) Wuhan is a place where SARS transmits from animals into humans frequently. That's why the Wuhan Institute of Virology was built there.
Actually, Wuhan is ~1000km away from SARS spillover zones. Its human population was even used as a negative (no SARS) control group.
(5) (FALSE) Bat viruses in Wuhan city & Hubei Province have not been studied over the years. We don't know if there are SARS2-like viruses there.
Actually, 1000s of bats have been sampled by different groups over the years in Hubei. We just don't have access to the full data.
(6) (FALSE) Because the same species of bats live in South China and also Hubei, SARS2-like viruses are also in bats in Hubei.
Actually, the WIV published a paper before COVID-19 saying that it is mainly geographical barriers, not host species, that separate virus lineages.
(7) (FALSE) If SARS-CoV-2 was engineered or manipulated in the lab, scientists can tell.
Actually, scientists can detect only specific ways of modifying pathogens. We cannot rule out whether SARS-CoV-2 has been cultured, passaged or genetically modified.
(8) If SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a lab, it would look unnatural.
Actually, many of the viruses that have escaped from labs are viruses collected from animals or humans outside of the lab. Even if slightly modified or manipulated, they look like viruses that can be found in nature.
(9) (FALSE) All of the WIV's virus sequences are publicly available.
Actually, there's a missing WIV database of more than 22,000 pathogen samples that became inaccessible since Sep 2019, weeks before COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan.
(10) (FALSE) The WIV has shared all of their sequences (data and sample histories) closely related to SARS-CoV-2 in a timely and accurate manner.
Actually, when they shared the most closely related virus to SARS2, they did not mention its link to severe respiratory cases...
.. they also did not disclose that the virus sample had been genome sequenced in 2018 or that they had at least 8 other SARS2-like virus samples collected between 2012-2015 & sequenced.
Those sequences are still not publicly available more than a year after the pandemic began.
Bonus: If SARS2 came from a lab, someone would've already spilled the beans. This secret is too hot to handle.
Actually, there's no obvious whistleblower channel. There's also no international investigation. How would someone safely communicate evidence on the origins in China?
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Accidentally swore and got bleeped on my live interview with On Point @MeghnaWBUR while discussing why lab #OriginOfCovid must be investigated and why scientists must not lie or obfuscate the truth for political reasons. wbur.org/onpoint/2024/0…
@MeghnaWBUR Meghna did an excellent job putting the arguments of natural #OriginOfCovid proponents to me so I could refute them directly in the interview.
The scientific evidence does not support a double spillover of the virus at the Wuhan market.
I respect Dr Fauci's decades of service in gov. Being in charge during a pandemic is no small challenge & no one can lead for so long without making mistakes. However, it needs to be said that Dr Fauci has not surrounded himself with wise & honest people regarding #OriginOfCovid
These are the virologists & experts he trusted on #OriginOfCovid
In their private messages in early 2020, they mocked other virologists for not being able to predict their own lab leaks & misled a @nytimes journalist asking about a potential lab origin.
Dr Bob Garry admitted we don't know what viruses were studied in Wuhan labs. The papers he cited in support of natural #OriginOfCovid have been thoroughly refuted (see below).
A research-related #OriginOfCovid is plausible and even considered more likely by some experts and US intelligence agencies. goodjudgment.com/wp-content/upl…
Available data on early cases & market samples do not distinguish between a superspreader event versus spillover.
Even Dr Ralph Baric who collaborated with Wuhan scientists said the “market was a conduit for expansion of the disease. Is that where it started? I don’t think so.”
@COVIDSelect Baric said he forgot about the Defuse proposal & did not mention it at the Feb 1 call.
I believe Baric sharing Defuse would've prevented the publication of Proximal Origin and the use of it to dismiss a lab #OriginOfCovid in US gov and to the public.
@COVIDSelect Baric also could've told them at the Feb 1 meeting that novel SARS-like viruses were being used in infection experiments at BSL2 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology aka the Wild West according to Jeremy Farrar.
Peter Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance testified he didn't know Wuhan Institute of Virology bred 🦇, studied pangolin samples, engineered viruses without leaving a trace, and continued to collect viruses after 2015.
So how does he know they didn't cause Covid?
Daszak said he didn't know if WIV had started experiments described in the Defuse proposal and 🚨had not even asked them🚨.
He only had virus sequences from samples collected up to 2015. He believed that the WIV would've shared more sequences from 2016-2019 if they had them.
Reminder: EcoHealth Alliance still has not shared the sequences for the WIV's 220 SARS-CoV-1-like viruses (2022 interview) or 180 unique SARS-like viruses in their prior work not yet characterized for spillover potential (2018 proposal).
Those dismissing a lab #OriginOfCovid have had to make numerous concessions over the past 4 years.
We now know Wuhan scientists conducted risky experiments with novel SARS-like viruses at low biosafety & planned in 2018 to create viruses with the traits of the Covid-19 virus.
We also know the data on early cases & Huanan market shared by Chinese scientists do not shed light on #OriginOfCovid
Proponents of natural origin continue to argue that it is the totality of evidence that supports their hypothesis but this could be said for lab origin as well.
The latest defense for a natural #OriginOfCovid is that, if a lab leak had occurred, the Wuhan scientists would have acted all suspicious and essentially given the game away, thereby putting themselves, their colleagues & their families in immediate and deadly peril.