Controversy surrounding the Wuhan laboratory suspected of leaking Covid-19

(Dan Tri) – As a modern facility built to support research on the world’s most dangerous pathogens, the Wuhan Institute of Virology played a role in identifying the virus that killed more than 250,000 people.

Experts work inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Recognized as a globally influential expert at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Ms. Shi Zhengli specializes in researching the process of corona virus infection from animals to humans.

Currently, President Donald Trump and some US officials still suspect that the Wuhan Institute of Virology is the place where Covid-19 spread, while Chinese scientists and officials angrily deny it.

`We have forces looking at this issue very carefully. Scientists, intelligence and many others are all involved. I think eventually we will have a satisfactory answer. And China

Mr. Trump refused to reveal whether he had seen any intelligence confirming that Covid-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

However, the US Intelligence Community said they still consider the possibility that Covid-19 leaked out due to `an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan`.

CNN cited statistics from Johns Hopkins University on May 5 saying that more than 3.5 million people have been infected with Covid-19, of which at least 251,000 have died.

Research institution

Completed in 2015 and officially put into operation in 2018, the Wuhan Institute of Virology with a construction cost of 44 million USD was initially planned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to become a laboratory of the World Health Organization.

At the time, Wuhan Institute of Virology Institute Director Yuan Zhiming called the facility “an important link in the global network of biosafety laboratories.”

Initial research by the Wuhan Institute of Virology focused on dengue fever in Crimea, Congo, Ebola epidemic and West African Lassa virus.

Ms. Shi, 55 years old, leads groundbreaking research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Over the next 15 years, Ms. Shi and leading experts from around the world, including Peter Dazak, president of the non-profit organization EcoHealth Alliance in New York, actively researched the process of infection.

In 2017, Shi and her team discovered that the coronavirus that causes SARS originated in bats.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is one of the few facilities in the world with the highest globally recognized biosafety level, also known as the BSL-4 standard.

There is currently no evidence that strict safety regulations at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were violated.

However, according to Telegraph, accidents can still happen.

In 2003, a SARS outbreak in Singapore was suspected to be linked to an accident at a hospital laboratory that infected a student.

A subsequent investigation found that safety standards had been violated, as the researchers were forced to work together in the laboratory where the incident occurred, while another

One hypothesis is that Covid-19 could have escaped from another laboratory such as the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has long been entangled with international researchers over how to handle dangerous pathogens.

Former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier signed the decree leading to the birth of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2004. However, French businesses only played a very small role in building this laboratory.

Technip, the French company that was supposed to be responsible for certifying that the Wuhan Institute of Virology met safety standards, ultimately did not do so after withdrawing from the project in 2005. 50 French scientists, the

However, the international cooperation of the Wuhan Institute of Virology has not ended.

James LeDuc, director of Galveston, said that it is unlikely that the virus accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology because all such facilities have strict security procedures, but incidents cannot be ruled out.

Chinese officials have continuously denied accusations that Covid-19 escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.

In March, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman sparked a diplomatic dispute with the US when he hypothesized that the US military may have brought Covid-19 to China.

Success

According to Reuters, Telegraph