The World Health Organization has released a new report of the scientific and advisory group on the origin of new pathogens (SAGO), dedicated to the origin of the Sars-COV-2 virus, which caused the Covid-19 pandemic. After three years of intensive work, 27 international experts were unable to give a final response to the source of the virus due to the lack of key data that the People's Republic did not provide.
WHO CEO Tedros Adhan Hebreesus said that all hypotheses remain open, in particular the zoononic origin of the virus - the transmission from animals, as well as the version of the possible leakage from the laboratory. He called on China and other countries that have important information, share it in the interests of global security and protection against future pandemics.
According to the results of the studies conducted over three years, experts believe that the most likely is the scenario of zoonoid distribution: the virus could get to people directly from the bats or through the intermediate owner. At the same time, due to the lack of detailed information about the first patients, the activities of the markets in the city of Uhan, as well as the work of local laboratories, this version failed to finally confirm.
Throughout the period of work, a group of experts held 52 meetings, actively cooperated with scientists, journalists and other specialists, studied published scientific works, and received access to secret documents and government reports. Despite the considerable amount of research, complete disclosure remains blocked due to China's unwillingness to provide important data.
The previous report, published in June 2022, also discussed several hypotheses for the origin of the virus, but there was no final answer. WHO emphasizes that complete transparency and international cooperation are key to understanding the origin of the Covid-19 and preventing new pandemics in the future.
Thus, the report confirms the importance of further investigation and continuation of data collection. At the same time, the world community remains uncertainty about the exact origin of the SARS-COV-2, which complicates effective planning of measures to prevent such threats.
