WUHAN, China (AP) – A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty as to whether Beijing could try to avoid embarrassing discoveries. .
The 10-member team sent to Wuhan by the World Health Organization was approved by the government of President Xi Jinping after months of diplomatic disputes that generated an unusual public complaint by the WHO chief.
Scientists suspect that the virus, which has killed 1.9 million people since the end of 2019, has leapt onto humans from bats or other animals, probably in southwest China. The ruling Communist Party, accused of allowing the disease to spread, says the virus came from abroad, possibly in imported seafood, but scientists reject that.
CGTN, the English channel for the state broadcaster CCTV, reported the arrival of the WHO team. Members include viruses and other experts from the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Qatar and Vietnam.
A government spokesman said this week that they will “exchange views” with Chinese scientists, but gave no indication whether they would be allowed to gather evidence.
They will undergo a two-week quarantine, as well as a smear test on the throat and an antibody test for COVID-19, according to a post on the official Weibo account of CGTN. They are expected to start working with Chinese experts via video conferencing during quarantine.
China rejected the demands of an international investigation after the Trump administration blamed Beijing for spreading the virus, which plunged the global economy into its worst crisis since the 1930s.
After Australia asked in April for an independent inquiry, Beijing retaliated by blocking imports of beef, wine and other Australian products.
One possibility is that a wildlife hunter passed the virus on to merchants who took it to Wuhan, one member of the WHO team, zoologist Peter Daszak of the American group EcoHealth Alliance, told the Associated Press in November.
It is unlikely that a single visit by scientists will confirm the origins of the virus; locating an outbreak’s animal reservoir is typically an exhausting effort that takes years of research, including animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies.
“The government must be very transparent and collaborative,” said Shin-Ru Shih, director of the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Taiwan’s Chang Gung University.
The Chinese government tried to create confusion about the origin of the virus. He promoted theories, with little evidence, that the outbreak may have started with the importation of contaminated seafood, an idea rejected by scientists and international agencies.
“WHO will need to conduct similar investigations elsewhere,” said a National Health Commission official, Mi Feng, on Wednesday.
Part of the WHO team was on its way to China a week ago, but had to return after Beijing announced that it had not received valid visas.
This may have been a “bureaucratic mess,” but the incident “raises the question of whether Chinese officials were trying to interfere,” said Adam Kamradt-Scott, a health expert at the University of Sydney.
A possible focus for researchers is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in the city where the outbreak began. One of China’s leading virus research labs, he built an archive of genetic information on coronaviruses in bats after the 2003 Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
According to the published WHO agenda for research on origins, there are no plans to assess whether an accidental release of the coronavirus may have occurred in Wuhan’s laboratory, as some American politicians, including President Donald Trump, have said.
A “scientific audit” of the Institute’s records and security measures would be a “routine activity,” said Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh. He said it depends on how willing Chinese officials are to share information.
“There is a big element of trust here,” said Woolhouse.
An AP investigation they found that the government has imposed controls over research on the outbreak and prevents scientists from speaking to reporters.
The exact origin of the coronavirus can never be traced because viruses change quickly, said Woolhouse.
While it can be challenging to find precisely the same COVID-19 virus in animals and humans, discovering closely related viruses can help explain how the disease arose from animals and clarify what preventive measures are needed to prevent future epidemics.
Scientists should focus on taking a “comprehensive picture” of the virus to help respond to future outbreaks, Woolhouse said.
“Now is not the time to blame anyone,” said Shih. “We shouldn’t say, it’s your fault.”
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Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.