translated from Spanish: Scientists warn that the search for the origin of the coronavirus is stalled

International research to find the origin of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus is stalled and the window of opportunity for some key scientific studies “is closing rapidly,” say the independent experts in charge of that mission. The World Health Organization (WHO) and China appointed a joint group of experts, which in October 2020 was commissioned to try to establish the origins of covid, and today the international independent members of that group sign a comment in Nature.These experts submitted a first report in March, after a 28-day hearing in Wuhan with scientists from that country, which “was supposed to be the first step in a process that is stalled.” They therefore call on the scientific community and country leaders to “join forces” to accelerate studies of the next phase “while there is time”. The article not only summarizes the scientific process developed so far, but calls for “accelerating the follow-up scientific work needed to identify how covid-19 arose.” The window of opportunity to conduct this crucial research is rapidly closing: any delay will make some of the studies biologically impossible,” write the independent experts, who recall that “understanding the origins of a devastating pandemic is a global science-based priority.” In this regard, they explain as an example that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are decreasing, so collecting more samples and testing animals or animal handlers that may have been exposed before December 2019 will yield diminishing results. For a second phase of studies, international experts have set six priorities, including critical tracking of people and animals in regions inside and outside China that have the first evidence of virus circulation; specific studies of possible reservoirs or intermediate hosts; and tracking credible new leads. The WHO informed its member states in July of its plans to create a committee to oversee future studies, but the adoption of this new process to the mission on the origin of the coronavirus “risks adding several months of delay”. The first report submitted by the joint group of international and Chinese experts did not clear the question of the origin of SARS-Cov-2 and the onset of the pandemic. Its findings indicated that there was no definitive evidence for or against any of the four hypotheses proposed. One of them is the direct zoonotic introduction through an escape of wild animals. The other three are indirect zoonotic pathways: infection by handling infected farm animals; through the consumption of contaminated food or from infected animals, or the introduction through a laboratory working on animal viruses.



Original source in Spanish

Related Posts

Add Comment