By Sarah Hannan
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is conducting sero-epidemiologic studies as well as further animal and environmental studies to lay the groundwork for longer-term studies of intermediary animal host(s), the virus origin, and how it entered the human population in attempt to identify earlier human cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2).
According to WHO, the scientists in an investigative team formed in September are currently reviewing preliminary studies, developing study protocols and materials, and planning in-country work. The first virtual meeting of the team with their Chinese counterparts was held on 30 October.
“Given the scale and complexity of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need a sustained and comprehensive set of scientific investigations in China and elsewhere to find the intermediate host(s) and virus origins. This rigorous meticulous work will require the trust and co-operation of many local, national, and international actors to succeed,” a WHO official stated in a press note.
Ever since the first cluster of cases of atypical pneumonia was detected in Wuhan, China, WHO was looking for evidence of how the virus that has turned the world upside down originally made the jump from animals to humans.
While the public health priority was, and remains, to mount a rapid, comprehensive, and effective response to suppress human-to-human transmission of the virus in order to save lives, our ability to prevent and respond to future pandemics depends on identifying the natural reservoirs and intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 and the natural events that propelled the novel coronavirus onto the world stage.
WHO’s first novel coronavirus press conference on 14 January highlighted the importance of finding the animal reservoir.
At the first meeting of the Emergency Committee on Covid-19, one of the main questions was how to better understand the research that was underway in Wuhan on the epidemiology around the first detected cases and their source of infection.
The Emergency Committee’s recommendation to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which was accepted by the Director General on 30 January, referred to the virus origins.
A global research meeting held by WHO in February included this as a priority research area.
In July, WHO experts travelled to China to define the role of the international investigative team to explore the potential sources of infection amongst the first reported cases in Wuhan in December 2019.
According to WHO, the scientists in an investigative team formed in September are currently reviewing preliminary studies, developing study protocols and materials, and planning in-country work. The first virtual meeting of the team with their Chinese counterparts was held on 30 October.
“Given the scale and complexity of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need a sustained and comprehensive set of scientific investigations in China and elsewhere to find the intermediate host(s) and virus origins. This rigorous meticulous work will require the trust and co-operation of many local, national, and international actors to succeed,” a WHO official stated in a press note.
Ever since the first cluster of cases of atypical pneumonia was detected in Wuhan, China, WHO was looking for evidence of how the virus that has turned the world upside down originally made the jump from animals to humans.
While the public health priority was, and remains, to mount a rapid, comprehensive, and effective response to suppress human-to-human transmission of the virus in order to save lives, our ability to prevent and respond to future pandemics depends on identifying the natural reservoirs and intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 and the natural events that propelled the novel coronavirus onto the world stage.
WHO’s first novel coronavirus press conference on 14 January highlighted the importance of finding the animal reservoir.
At the first meeting of the Emergency Committee on Covid-19, one of the main questions was how to better understand the research that was underway in Wuhan on the epidemiology around the first detected cases and their source of infection.
The Emergency Committee’s recommendation to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which was accepted by the Director General on 30 January, referred to the virus origins.
A global research meeting held by WHO in February included this as a priority research area.
In July, WHO experts travelled to China to define the role of the international investigative team to explore the potential sources of infection amongst the first reported cases in Wuhan in December 2019.