New information says that a bat infected COVID-19 patient zero is probable, said World Health Organization (WHO) doctor. Speculations over how SARS-CoV-2 came to infect and start a worldwide contagion have been going on since the beginning of the pandemic.
The so-called first infectee could have gotten sick because of events associated with the Wuhan Lab leak theory, which was pushed as its most probable cause.
This twist was suggested by a WHO investigator working on the Wuhan investigations.
Bats in Wuhan laboratory infected COVID-19 patient zero
According to Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, who led the not so notable initial probe in China, it alleged that its transmission via bat could have started the patient zeros ordeal. Even as the WHO did not entertain the notion at all, reported the SUN UK.
He remarked in an interview that it was either a scientist or laboratory technologist, who got too close to the bats, got infected in the Wuhan lab, noted TW News.
Explaining the virus can jump from the bat to a human as expected in earlier researches. Embarek further refined his hypothesis that someone from the lab was the first infected and not random villager who could not access the laboratory.
Wow! Patient Zero in the pandemic may have been infected in a laboratory says @WHO inquiry chief Peter Ben Embarek https://t.co/yWkwG381Ad
— Ian Birrell (@ianbirrell) August 12, 2021
Embarek stressed that it might be the probable scenario to explain the chain of events in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
The WHO doctor, despite his assumptions, also admitted it is all guesswork, no solid proof. China was not reliable in getting the truth when the pandemic began in 2020, and the COVID-19 patient zero infected by a bat might have happened.
While investigating in Wuhan, the WHO team revealed that the team had a tough time dealing with the Chinese virologists. They made it clear that part of the Lab Leak theory is omitted from the probe.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) is located close enough to the first reported patients in a seafood market at Wuhan City, stating certain factors related to possible transmission.
Since the early days, the WIV is one of the leading centers in studying coronaviruses related to bats. Evidence points to the bat virus as the nearest DNA match so far was present in the laboratory.
But, the lab is supposed to be impregnable to releasing lethal viruses in China, which is how the virus propagated and spread fast remains a mystery.
Wuhan conceals laboratory documentations on bats study
Chinese officials deny any involvement despite the laboratory activities, with leading authorities saying the viral laboratory leakage is a 'plot theory' with no merit in the probe.
But for so long, evidence is cropping up more. The idea of the WIV as a central figure in the virus is getting noticed by governments and scientists.
Embarek, a scientist specializing in zoonoses and food safety, spoke to the media when the WHO team was still in China. The lab theory was not mentioned for 48-hours, not until before leaving China, cited in the New York Post.
Lack of data was evident when the probe went to the WIV and Wuhan CDC, so no basis justified a lab leak conclusion.
While the doctor declared none of the laboratory books or documents were given for them to look over, transparency was lacking. Only a presentation was given to the WHO team, and there was no documentation on the studies conducted in the laboratory presented to the probe team.
He added that the Wuhan CDC could have been testing the bat viruses and not told anyone at all. The probability that COVID-19 patient zero got infected by a bat is possible since the laboratory is just 500 meters from the seafood market, where the cases were first found last December 2019, and the release could have been by human error, is something China is not so happy about, Embarek remarks.
