Factbox-What the WHO says on how to find COVID-19’s origins, prepare for next pandemic
By Jennifer Rigby
LONDON (Reuters) – A panel of specialists drafted by the World Well being Group to research the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and put together a framework to research future outbreaks has printed its first report.
The panel, arrange in October, contains 26 specialists from around the globe and known as the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO).
Its work follows a earlier WHO-China report on COVID-19, and a U.S. intelligence inquiry, each of which pointed in the direction of a pure origin for the pandemic, seemingly from bats, quite than a lab leak.
BATS
The brand new report says a zoonotic origin is the most certainly clarification for the emergence of the novel coronavirus. The primary human circumstances had been reported in December 2019 within the central Chinese language metropolis of Wuhan.
Nonetheless, it says that neither the unique animal supply, the intermediate host, nor the second the virus crossed over into people, has been recognized.
LACK OF EVIDENCE
That’s mainly as a result of a variety of knowledge is lacking, the report says, notably from China.
Chinese language scientists have supplied extra data, together with on blood samples from 40,000 Chinese language donors in Wuhan from September to December 2019 when the pandemic emerged.
Of those, greater than 200 samples initially examined optimistic for Sars-CoV-2 antibodies, the virus inflicting COVID-19, however confirmatory assessments had been damaging, the Chinese language scientists stated.
The WHO has requested extra data on this and on different components.
LAB LEAK
The panel additionally stated that no additional data has been supplied on whether or not the coronavirus might have reached people through a laboratory incident, which means extra knowledge and investigations remained essential.
FUTURE WORK
It known as for a lot of research to be carried out each in China and globally to shed additional mild on the pandemic’s origins.
These embrace extra research on the primary human circumstances in China, in addition to efforts to hint whether or not the virus was circulating in China – and elsewhere – earlier than the primary circumstances had been discovered.
Additional work on potential animal hosts, notably in bats, in addition to on farm employees and animal merchandise that had been within the Wuhan market – recognized early on as a possible spillover web site – had been additionally key, the WHO stated.
FRAMEWORK
The WHO says the principle goals of the SAGO panel are to attract up a framework for investigating future outbreaks extra successfully.
The report features a checklist of the work that ought to urgently be completed to attain this, which might ideally be in cooperation with the nation the place an outbreak begins and WHO groups.
The research wanted embrace “early investigation” work into issues comparable to modes of transmission and the extent of human-to-human transmission, SAGO stated, in addition to analysis on early circumstances and their journey historical past and publicity to animals.
It stated there must also be plans for visits and the “systematic recording of knowledge from the location[s] of the earliest detected circumstances”, in addition to early specimen assortment from animals, people and the broader atmosphere.
It is going to proceed to satisfy to debate progress on this, and also will talk about work on figuring out the origins of a number of the Sars-CoV-2 variants, in addition to the unfold of identified pathogens, such because the current monkeypox outbreak.
The panel additionally really useful extra work on biosafety and safety.
(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; enhancing by Barbara Lewis)
