EcoHealth Alliance defends US-funded bat coronavirus research in China

Science non-profit says it complied with reporting requirements after its funder, the National Institutes of Health, claimed it did not

US lawmakers have questioned whether EcoHealth conducted risky research when it worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology

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The Wuhan Institute of Virology is at the centre of a theory that the coronavirus could have spread following a research accident, though no evidence has emerged to link the virus to the lab. Photo: TNS

Published: 9:30pm, 29 Oct 2021Updated: 10:27pm, 29 Oct 2021

A science non-profit that has come under fire for its US-funded coronavirus research in China has defended its actions amid questions over whether it followed grant protocols or conducted risky research.

In a letter on Tuesday, US-based EcoHealth Alliance countered a claim by its funder – the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – that it had failed to properly report the results of an experiment conducted with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in central China.

The letter, submitted to the health agency and first published by The Wall Street Journal, is the latest in an unfolding political controversy surrounding US government-funded research in China.

It is playing out against a backdrop of unanswered questions about the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19 and a theory that it could have spread following a research accident at the Wuhan institute – though no evidence has arisen to link the virus to the lab.

The theory has nonetheless sparked a wider debate among lawmakers, scientists and media in the US and elsewhere about regulations on laboratory safety, and what kinds of virus research should and should not be allowed.

The NIH and outside scientists have been clear: none of the viruses reported under the EcoHealth grant were close enough to have given rise to the one that causes Covid-19.