US media reports have confirmed that an intelligence report requested by President Biden into the origins of the pandemic has not yielded any significant results. The report, which was inconclusive, sought to determine whether the virus was the result of natural spread from animal to human or if it was caused by a laboratory accident. The report is expected to be published within the next few days. A team from the World Health Organization found earlier this year that the disease was most likely caused by infection from an animal sold at a Wuhan market.
The possibility that the virus may have leaked accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been rejected by some scientists and was dismissed by the WHO report. The institute has studied coronaviruses in bats for over a decade. Reports that several researchers at the Wuhan institute were hospitalized in November due to an unknown illness likely prompted Mr. Biden’s decision to request a new investigation. Other factors may include China’s refusal to allow a thorough investigation into the lab theory of origin.
Read More: US Intelligence Report ‘Inconclusive’ on Coronavirus Origins
