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Agence France-Presse

The World Health Organisation said on Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support “speculative” claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus – so from our perspective, this remains speculative,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.
Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
But US President Donald Trump, increasingly critical of China’s management of the first outbreak, claims to have proof it started in a Wuhan laboratory.


And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said “enormous evidence” backed up that claim, which China has vehemently denied.
“Like any evidence-based organisation, we would be very willing to receive any information that purports to the origin of the virus,” Ryan said, stressing that this was “a very important piece of public health information for future control”.
“If that data and evidence is available, then it will be for the United States government to decide whether and when it can be shared, but it is difficult for the WHO to operate in an information vacuum in that regard,” he said.


The UN health agency – which has also faced scathing criticism from Trump over accusations it initially downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak to shield China – has repeatedly said the virus clearly appears to have originated naturally from an animal source.
The Wuhan lab conspiracy theory that will not go away
WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove stressed during Monday’s briefing that there were some 15,000 full genome sequences of the novel coronavirus available, and “from all of the evidence that we have seen … this virus is of natural origin”.
While coronaviruses generally originate in bats, both Van Kerkhove and Ryan stressed the importance of discovering how the virus that causes Covid-19 crossed over to humans, and what animal served as an “intermediary host” along the way.
“We need to understand more about that natural origin, and particularly about intermediate hosts,” Ryan said.
It was important to know “so that we can put in place the right public health and animal-human interface policies that will prevent this happening again”, he stressed.


The WHO said last week it wanted to be invited to take part in Chinese investigations into the animal origins of the pandemic, which in a matter of months has killed nearly 250,000 people worldwide.
“We have offered, as we do with every case in every country, assistance with carrying out those investigations,” Ryan said Monday.
“We can learn from Chinese scientists,” he said.
‘Don’t defend Trump – attack China’: Republican memo reveals virus strategy
But he warned that if questions about the virus origin were “projected as aggressive investigation of wrongdoing, than I believe that’s much more difficult to deal with. That is a political issue”.
“Science needs to be at the centre,” he said.
“If we have a science-based investigation and a science-based enquiry as to what the origin species and the intermediate species are, then that will benefit everybody on the planet.”



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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: WHO says US has provided no proof on Wuhan lab claims

World Health Organisation emergencies director Michael Ryan speaks during a Covid-19 press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva in March. Photo: AFP

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says ‘enormous evidence’ coronavirus came from Chinese lab

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: AFP

Chinese virologist at centre of ‘coronavirus came from a laboratory’ claim denies defecting

Shi Zhengli has worked for years with bat coronaviruses and discovered the natural bat reservoir for Sars. Photo: AFP

== PICTURE CAPTURED FROM WEIBO == Shi Zhengli weibo account. WEIBO

US intelligence says coronavirus was not man-made but theory it leaked from Wuhan lab needs more investigation

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is among a handful of labs around the world cleared to handle the most dangerous pathogens. Photo: AFP

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, U.S., April 29, 2020. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS

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No data or specific evidence received from Washington, says World Health Organisation emergencies director Michael Ryan
WHO health expert Maria Van Kerkhove reiterates that virus appears to be of natural origin



No data or specific evidence received from Washington, says World Health Organisation emergencies director Michael Ryan.
