News Brief
US Releases Declassified Intel Report On Potential Links Between Wuhan Institute Of Virology And Origin Of COVID-19
Wuhan Institute of Virology
US intelligence agencies are still unable to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic started, according to a declassified intel report released on Friday (23 June).
In the report, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence states that all government agencies "continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection."
The report acknowledged that researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists conducted coronavirus research in the city where Covid first emerged, fell ill in the fall of 2019, shortly before the pandemic began.
The report acknowledged that several researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell mildly ill in Fall 2019.
However, they experienced symptoms consistent with colds or allergies, which are not typically associated with COVID-19. Additionally, some of them were confirmed to have been sick with other illnesses unrelated to COVID-19.
The report also confirmed the Wuhan lab's failure to adhere to safety protocols in studying coronaviruses.
According to intelligence agencies, researchers at the institute genetically engineered coronaviruses.
However, the agencies lack evidence that the researchers worked on the strain responsible for the pandemic.
The report highlighted that some of the "WIV’s genetic engineering projects on coronaviruses involved techniques that could make it difficult to detect intentional changes".
The Wuhan institute collaborated with the Chinese Army on defensive projects related to improving China's biosecurity and early disease warning capabilities, according to the report.
The report confirms that there is a disagreement among U.S. agencies regarding the origin of the virus.
The National Intelligence Council and other intelligence agencies support the natural origin theory, while the FBI and Energy Department favour the lab leak hypothesis, reports Politico.
Meanwhile, the CIA has not taken a position.
In March, President Joe Biden signed a law that required the release of intelligence information. The intelligence agencies complied with this law by releasing the information.
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