WHO calls for further studies, data on origin of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called for further studies into the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2), following a report that was completed and sent to Wuhan, China for investigation.

That report stemmed from a Member State resolution adopted by consensus at the World Health Assembly, calling for it “to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts, including through efforts such as scientific and collaborative field missions.”
On Tuesday, the Director-General said the findings advance understanding in important ways, while raising questions that would need to be addressed by further studies, as noted in the report.
“As far as WHO is concerned, all hypotheses remain on the table. This report is a very important beginning, but it is not the end. We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we must continue to follow the science, and leave no stone unturned as we do,” said Dr Tedros. “Finding the origin of a virus takes time, and we owe it to the world to find the source, so we can collectively take steps to reduce the risk of this happening again. No single research trip can provide all the answers,” Dr Tedros has claimed.
From the very beginning of the pandemic, WHO had stressed the need to understand the origin of the virus in order to better understand the emergence of new pathogens and possible exposures. A few weeks into the outbreak, the IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts had recommended that WHO and China pursue efforts to identify the animal source of the virus.
Throughout 2020, WHO continued to discuss with China and other Member States the need to study and share information about the origins of the virus. Work has continued with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and countries as part of the One-Health Approach to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts.
In July 2020, WHO sent a small team to China to plan a joint study comprising Chinese and independent international scientists. It was agreed that WHO would select the international scientists, and the team consisted of persons from Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Qatar, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam.