WHO team's doctor explains why COVID didn't leak from Wuhan lab, cites 'genetic evidence'

An Australian doctor who was part of World Health Organization (WHO) team that visited China’s Wuhan, Dominic Dwyer wrote in a first-person account explaining why origin of vel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 is unlikely to be eir seafood market in city or leaked from Wuhan lab.

Arguing against major conspiracy ories claiming that highly-infectious virus was leaked from a lab researching on pathogens, Dwyer described in an article published for Conversation that when team of international experts visited closed market it was easy to see how virus could have spread re. Even though high number of infections in different markets suggested transmission clusters, it furr implied “unkwn or unsampled chains of transmission”.

While describing his experience, Dwyer wrote, “When we visited closed market, it’s easy to see how an infection might have spread re. When it was open, re would have been around 10,000 people visiting a day, in close proximity, with poor ventilation and drain.”

“re’s also genetic evidence generated during mission for a transmission cluster re. Viral sequences from several of market cases were identical, suggesting a transmission cluster. However, re was some diversity in or viral sequences, implying or unkwn or unsampled chains of transmission.” He concluded Wuhan seafood market as a hotspot that furr led to COVID-19 pandemic. “ market in Wuhan, in end, was more of an amplifying event rar than necessarily a true ground zero,” he added.

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Wuhan lab leak is also ‘extremely unlikely’

Furr, in lengthy explanation published on site, Australian scientist explained why leak from Wuhan lab is also “extremely unlikely”. He wrote that team of international experts sent to Wuhan to investigate origins of vel coronavirus visited lab in centre of all ories, Wuhan Institute of Virology.  After speaking to scientists working re, experts found evidence of coronavirus antibodies. WHO team, as Dwyer explained, looked at closest virus to SARS-CoV-2 that researchers were working on in lab, virus RaTG13. However, all scientists had a genetic sequence for virus and y had t been able to grow in culture.

Dwyer wrote, “We spoke to scientists re. We heard that scientists’ blood samples, which are routinely taken and stored, were tested for signs y had been infected. evidence of antibodies to coronavirus was found. We looked at ir biosecurity audits. evidence.”

“We looked at closest virus to SARS-CoV-2 y were working on — virus RaTG13 — which had been detected in caves in sourn China where some miners had died seven years previously. But all scientists had was a genetic sequence for this virus. y hadn’t mand to grow it in culture. While viruses certainly do escape from laboratories, this is rare. So, we concluded it was extremely unlikely this had happened in Wuhan,” he summed up.

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