The most dangerous “escape” viruses in the world

SARS-CoV-1 virus, H1N1 bird flu, smallpox … are dangerous viruses that have leaked from the laboratory, while scientists are calling for a closer investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2, Italian newspaper The Print reported on May 31.

Security guards stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (China)Source: South China Morning Post Recently, Mr. Chris Said, a data scientist, a member of the House of Representatives of Malta, posted on Twitter a list of viruses that have accidentally escaped from laboratories so far. According to him, SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 29 countries around the world in 2003, had leaked from several Asian laboratories. The first time SARS-1 “escaped” was in August 2003 at the National University of Singapore. The second time happened in December 2003 in Taiwan (China). The results of the investigation showed that a SARS scientist in Taiwan handled the leaked biological waste without wearing gloves, masks or gowns. In April 2004, SARS-1 escaped from the National Institute of Virology of China. The H1N1 bird flu virus first appeared in the world in 1918, causing a global pandemic. In 1977, the virus “re-emerged” and many believe it was the result of a leak from a laboratory. That lab is said to be working on a way to produce a live attenuated vaccine in response to the threat of a global flu pandemic. Martin Furmanski, a researcher at the Scientific Working Group on Biological and Chemical Weapons (USA), wrote in a 2014 report that authorities do not want to disclose the laboratory origin of H1N1 because worried about affecting virus research cooperation between countries. “Virilologists and public health officials quickly realized that the most likely source (of H1N1) was a lab leak, but they agreed not to make this public,” Furmanski wrote. Foot-and-mouth disease emerged in the UK in 2007, about 4km from a biosafety level 4 laboratory in the Pirbright area. The results of the investigation showed that the construction vehicles were carrying sludge contaminated with the virus from a faulty sewage line in Pirbright, Italian newspaper The Print reported on May 31. Smallpox virus leaked from two prestigious smallpox laboratories in the UK. The first occurred in 1972 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The second case was recorded in 1978 at the Birmingham Medical School. Continuing to investigate the origin of COVID-19 In recent days, world opinion has heated up again about the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the global pandemic COVID-19. On May 13, a group of 18 scientists published in the journal Science (Science) of the United States, calling for a more thorough investigation of the origin of SARS-CoV-2. They believe that the hypotheses about the accidental release of the virus from the laboratory and natural transmission are both possible in reality. Earlier, in March, a team of experts sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to China concluded that the hypothesis of a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely” in reality. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the team’s assessment of whether SARS-CoV-2 could emerge in the community after a laboratory incident was “not broad enough” and request further investigation. Even America’s top medical expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who once denied the lab leak theory, now says he doesn’t believe the virus evolved naturally. US President Joe Biden has ordered the US intelligence community to investigate the origins of COVID-19, after new surveillance results showed there was a possibility of a pandemic after SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the laboratory. experience in China, American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on May 27. The White House came under pressure to investigate on its own after China told the WHO that its part of the investigation had been completed, and efforts to trace the source of the virus should turn to other countries. President Biden wants the US intelligence community to produce a report on the origin of COVID-19 within 90 days. He said that US intelligence focuses on two scenarios, SARS-CoV-2 comes from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory incident. Earlier, a US intelligence report wrote that three researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became so sick in November 2019 that they had to be hospitalized. In December 2019, China reported its first cases of COVID-19. “This questions the credibility of the claim by veteran researcher Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology that there is no transmission of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses among staff and students. of the Wuhan Institute of Virology”, American newspaper USA Today May 24, citing documents from the US State Department. However, the intelligence report on 3 Chinese researchers seriously ill The Wall Street Journal The mention is not conclusive evidence that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the lab, and the intelligence community still doesn’t know for sure what illness they have, CNN reported.