Coronavirus: report on WHO-led Wuhan mission leaves unanswered questions
- Scientists say inquiry was useful, but document reaches no conclusions on how virus spread to humans or even if it originated in China
- Chinese and international teams agree more research is needed
The 300-page-plus document provides interesting hints of information: there was a rise in acute respiratory illness among the elderly in Wuhan in early December 2019, several weeks before doctors identified an outbreak in the city, and more than half of Wuhan’s earliest known cases had some connection to food markets.
Tens of thousands of animals from hundreds of species, including rhinoceros and alpaca, were tested for the virus or its antibodies in China, but more targeted research on wildlife farms in bat virus hotspots remains to be done. China has not widely tested blood bank samples stored from 2019 in Wuhan that could provide more clues about early spread.
The report is the first time that the extent of the research done by Chinese scientists has been laid out. Its findings have been met with scepticism by the US and others, and the WHO director general said the international team had difficulty accessing raw data.
Scientists and the WHO said the report – a joint effort of Chinese and international scientists who worked together in Wuhan for 28 days – was an important step forward. But it also reveals gaps in the evidence collected, and leaves many unanswered questions:
When did the virus first start spreading in people?
