Thread by @Ayjchan

This is possibly an example of experts explaining things poorly to their sponsors.

Saying it’s clear the pandemic virus came from animals is like saying it’s clear a forest fire came from wood catching on 🔥

The question is how did it happen?
mediaite.com/news/bill-gate…

I have not read Bill Gate’s new book. There are likely lessons in it about pandemic preparedness that should be seriously considered.

But we also need to be careful that the virus hunting to predict & prepare for pandemics does not itself cause pandemics.
ecohealthalliance.org/2017/01/1-mill…

I’d like to repurpose a quote from the director of the global virome project:

“What we’re doing today is the same thing we were doing a decade ago… If we keep pursuing that approach, we will ultimately have a global catastrophe.”

Our pandemic prevention and response strategies have to be updated - some lessons from pandemics in the 1900s might need to be unlearnt - based on today’s reality and what will become possible and likely in the near future.

For example, if a massive forest fire might’ve started from a highly funded research program where scientists try to understand the best ways for fires to start in forests, the answer cannot be to accelerate and pour more funding into that same research. usaid.gov/news-informati…

I think it is difficult to objectively judge the wisdom of pre-covid funding of virus discovery programs. It seemed well intentioned at least - to predict pandemics.

However, a post-covid decision to push for more of this work without stronger safeguards lacks foresight.

The expert(s) who told Bill Gates it is clear the pandemic virus came from animals need to do a better job explaining that there are both natural & lab-related ways in which this could happen - and each requires a tailored pandemic prevention and response strategy #OriginOfCovid