It was on last December that the first known case of coronavirus was reported in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. Soon, the pathogen spread worldwide, and the World Health Organization classified it as a pandemic. As per the latest statistics, the deadly virus has already claimed the lives of more than 6,04,000 deaths and the total number of positive cases has crossed 14.4 million. Now, 2018 US internal diplomatic cable suggests that coronavirus might have leaked accidentally from the Wuhan virology institute.
Coronavirus originated from Wuhan lab
This internal cable was written by officials of the US embassy in China, and after visiting the lab, the officers revealed that there is a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators to operate this laboratory.
As per this internal cable obtained by the Washington Post through a lawsuit, the lab could conduct a study on SARS-like coronavirus extracted from bats. But the facility in Wuhan should need the permission of designated authority to research coronavirus strains that could infect humans.
Ian Lipkin, the director of Columbia University's Center for Infection and Immunity, believes that this internal cable is not proving or disproving the theory that coronavirus has originated from the Wuhan lab.
I don't see any evidence to support the idea that this was released deliberately or inadvertently. You can't just say someone is guilty of accidentally releasing a virus. You have to prove it," Lipkin told the Washington Post.
In the initial days of the outbreak, the United States and President Donald Trump had blamed China for the COVID-19 leak. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also several times called the pathogen 'China Virus' and the 'Wuhan Virus'.
Did Nature Journal warn of coronavirus outbreak?
On February 22, 2017, a report published in the journal Nature had revealed that the laboratory in Wuhan is experimenting with the world's most deadly pathogens. The news report also published images of hazard suits hanged at the Wuhan laboratory.
As the report surfaced online, several international scientists expressed their concerns regarding the operation of this laboratory. These scientists also warned that deadly pathogens like coronavirus could escape from the laboratory causing chaos in all nooks of the world.
