WHO food safety and animal disease expert, he led investigation Exploring the origin of the new coronavirus, claiming March report It is extremely unlikely that the Wuhan laboratory’s leak theory was influenced by Chinese officials in the team.
In a new documentary, The mystery of the virus, According to reports, Peter Ben Embarek, who aired on Danish TV on Thursday night, said that Chinese researchers in the group opposed linking the origin of the pandemic to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Washington post.
“In the beginning, they didn’t want anything in the lab [in the report], Because it’s impossible, so there’s no need to waste time on this,” Ben Embarek said. “We insist on including it because it’s part of the whole question about the origin of the virus. “
Two days before the end of the mission, the team finally decided to include the laboratory leak theory in the report. Ben Embarek said that his Chinese colleagues agreed to discuss the theory in the report, “on the condition that we do not recommend any specific research to further advance this hypothesis.”
Regarding whether Chinese researchers require the use of the word “very unlikely” in the report, Ben Embarek said, “This is the last category we chose to put it in, yes.” He added that these words indicate that Theory is unlikely, but not impossible.
The documentary shows Ben Embarek arriving in China and inspecting the stalls at the South China Seafood Market in China. Wuhan.
According to experts in food safety and animal diseases, the possibility of laboratory workers contracting the coronavirus while collecting bat samples is “very likely.” Laboratory employees may accidentally bring the virus to Wuhan after collecting samples on site. According to him, this is both a laboratory leak theory and a hypothesis that bats are directly infected.
Ben Embarek said that although China’s political system will not accept it, there may be human error.
The documentary also allowed Embarek to express his concerns about the Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in January. The WHO has never disclosed these details publicly.
“What worries me more is the other laboratory. The one near the market,” he said, referring to the Wuhan branch of the China Centers for Disease Control, which is only 500 meters away from the South China market.
Embarek’s revelation is Wuhan Laboratory Leakage Theory As more and more scientists call for independent investigations by authorities outside the WHO, this has aroused people’s attention.
However, when asked about the interview, Embarek told the Washington Post that the interview was misinterpreted in English-language media reports. “This is an incorrect translation of the Danish article,” he said.
The WHO said in the report that animals are most likely to transmit the virus to humans after infecting the virus from bats. The team does not rule out that it may come directly from bats or frozen food.
Photo: AFP/HECTOR RETAMAL
