On April 8, the State Council's new office held a press conference on China's new crown pneumonia traceability research. At the press conference, Professor Tong Yigang, dean of the School of Life Sciences of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said that in the study of the Huanan seafood market, through genome sequencing, the sequence of the virus was almost 100% identical to that of patients at that time, which also suggested that the new crown pneumonia is likely to originate in humans.
Professor Tong Yigang introduced that from January to March 2020, researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted partial testing and metagenomic sequencing on more than 1,300 environmental samples and frozen animal samples collected in the Huanan Seafood Market, including more than 400 animal samples collected by the market. All tests in these animal samples were negative. Of the more than 900 samples of market conditions, 73 were positive. In the process, the researchers also isolated three viruses from environmental samples. After genome sequencing, it was found that the sequence of the virus was almost 100% identical to that of patients at that time, which also suggested that the virus may have originated in humans.
Tong Yigang said: "In the process of analysis, some of the host information carried in the environmental samples showed that it was mainly human hosts, including the genes of pigs, cattle, chickens, ducks and some cold chain products, and even the animal genetic judgment of mice and cats. All of this suggests that the coronavirus is likely contaminated by humans. These data further confirm the conclusions reached by the joint China and WHO team in the first phase. ”
China Disease Control: The place where the epidemic is found is not the same as the place of origin. Tracing back COVID requires a scientific attitude.
The State Council's new office held a press conference on traceability research on the new crown pneumonia. Zhou Lei, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the place where the epidemic was found is not the same as the place of origin of the epidemic. Tracing the origin of the new crown pneumonia requires scientists from all over the world to study together and carry out research work comprehensively and objectively together. If some WHO personnel make irresponsible accusations, especially if they want to deny the results of China's first phase of joint traceability investigation, I am afraid that this will damage the credibility of WHO.
In fact, in Wuhan at that time, in the process of joint traceability research between Chinese and CDC scientists, including foreign and domestic joint expert working groups, Chinese scientists shared all data and materials, including early case information, as well as case information of more than 76,000 possible and suspicious people infected with new coronary pneumonia in Wuhan at that time, based on the working principles of science, openness, objectivity and transparency.
In addition, more than 38,000 poultry and livestock samples and more than 41,000 wildlife samples collected in China between 2018 and 2020 were tested for antibodies or nucleic acids. These results suggest that the new crown pneumonia is not optimistic. A retrospective investigation was also conducted on the upstream and downstream supply chains of all animal products in the Huanan Seafood Market at that time, and no evidence of animal-to-animal virus transmission was found. The results of these studies were then shared with a panel of international experts selected by WHO.
In the first stage of the joint traceability study, in a scientific and comprehensive attitude, Continental also considered the possibility of laboratory leakage at the design stage. In order to study this aspect, during the period in Wuhan, the CDC organized a joint expert group to conduct field investigation and research on multiple laboratories in Wuhan, and conducted in-depth exchanges, and also investigated and analyzed all laboratory staff, including students who were in the laboratory at that time, as well as all health monitoring data and possible clinical data of these personnel. In every respect, in the first phase of the joint traceability study, China fully shared our research results and data, without any concealment or reservation.
It is difficult for scientists to do research, especially the study of virus traceability. Various emerging infectious diseases encountered in history, such as HIV, were only initially discovered more than a decade after its appearance and obtained some clues, so that we can have a certain understanding of its origin, including the later discovery of Ebola virus disease. Since the emergence of this viral disease, the origin of the Ebola virus has not been very clear to mankind since the 70s of the 20th century, and it has only been three years since the new crown pneumonia, and we still have a long way to go. Many research results on disease tracing have actually told us that the place where the epidemic was found is not the place where the epidemic originated, so we must still adhere to a scientific attitude. More importantly, in order to trace the origin of the new crown pneumonia, scientists from all over the world need to study together and carry out research work comprehensively and objectively.
Zhou Lei said: ". ”