By David Kirton and David Stanway
WUHAN, China (Reuters) – A member of the team led by the World Health Organization looking for clues to the origins of COVID-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, said that work is needed to try to trace genetic elements of the virus in bat caves .
Peter Daszak, a zoologist and animal disease specialist, said the team in Wuhan has received new information about how the virus, first identified in the city in late 2019, led to a pandemic. He did not elaborate, but said there was no evidence to suggest that it emerged from a laboratory.
The origin of the coronavirus has become highly politicized after accusations, especially from the United States, that China was not transparent in its initial treatment of the outbreak. Beijing promoted the idea that the virus originated elsewhere.
Daszak was involved in researching the origins of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, tracing its roots back to bats that lived in a cave in southwest Yunnan province.
“Similar research needs to be done if we are to find the true origin of wildlife” for COVID-19, said Daszak, president of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance.
“This kind of work to find the likely origin of the bat is important because, if you can find the sources of these lethal viruses, it could reduce contact with these animals,” he told Reuters in an interview.
It is unclear whether China is currently sampling its many bat caves, but SARS-CoV-2-like viruses had previously been found in southwestern Yunnan province.
He said the team in Wuhan was receiving new information about how the virus led to a pandemic, but gave no further details.
“I am seeing an image emerging from some of the scenarios that seem more plausible than before,” he said.
One scenario that is being examined more closely by the team is the possibility that the virus could have circulated long before it was first identified in Wuhan.
“This is something that our group is examining intensively to see what level of transmission in the community could have happened before,” said Daszak.
“The real work we are doing here is to trace from the first cases to an animal reservoir, and this is a much more complicated path and it may have happened over several months or even years.”
The researchers visited hospitals, research facilities and the seafood market where the first outbreak was identified, although their contacts in Wuhan are limited to visits organized by their Chinese hosts.
Daszak said Chinese officials had not declined any of the team’s requests to visit the facility or meet with key figures.
“Of course, it is impossible to know what is not being said to you, but what I am seeing in China, and what this group is seeing in China, is what we ask for, we are authorized to do,” said Daszak.
(Reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai and David Kirton in Wuhan; Editing by Nick Macfie)