The China-WHO Joint Research Report on the Traceability of the New Coronavirus: It is “extremely unlikely” that the new coronavirus will be transmitted through laboratories

On March 30, local time, the report of the China-WHO Joint Expert Group on the Traceability of the Novel Coronavirus was released in Geneva.

From January 14 to February 10 this year, Chinese experts and international experts from the World Health Organization and 10 countries formed a joint expert group to carry out a 28-day joint study in Wuhan, aiming to learn from epidemiology, animal Conduct research on the traceability of the new coronavirus in terms of environment, molecular epidemiology and bioinformatics.

According to the report, the joint research team evaluated the four pathways for the introduction of viruses into humans, and believed that the introduction of new coronaviruses into humans through laboratories is "extremely impossible"; the possibility of introduction into humans via intermediate hosts is "more likely to very likely"; from animals The possibility of direct introduction into humans is "possible to relatively possible"; it is also "possible" to introduce into humans through cold chain food.

According to the report, the joint expert group believes that because some early cases have nothing to do with the South China seafood market, a considerable number of cases are related to other markets, or some cases have nothing to do with the market, it may indicate that the South China seafood market is not the original source of the epidemic.

The report also stated that the investigations and targeted research evidence so far indicate that mammals such as bats and pangolins may be the hosts of the virus that causes new coronary pneumonia.

According to the report, the new coronavirus has been found to persist in frozen food, packaging and cold chain products.

Finally, the research team reviewed research data published from different countries on the early spread of the new coronavirus.

The report also puts forward recommendations for the next step of the joint expert group’s research, including the establishment of a globally unified database, the continued search for possible early cases in a wider range of the world, and the search for animal species that may be the reservoir of the virus by global scientists in many countries and further Understand the cold chain and the role of frozen food in the spread of the virus.

After receiving the full report, WHO Director-General Tan Desai expressed his gratitude to the joint research team, including Chinese experts, and said: "We have not discovered the source of the virus.

At 16:00 local time on the 30th, WHO held an online press conference and invited experts to answer questions from reporters about the report.