Covid-19 data points to animal origin but more studies needed to spot what and where: WHO advisers
- Sago report says research required to look at possibility of lab leak
- Information so far suggests the pathogen spread from animals to humans in a natural setting, it says
In their first report, the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (Sago) said on Thursday that available epidemiological and sequencing data suggested Sars-CoV-2 spread from animals to humans in a natural setting.
The group of 27 scientists from around the world said the closest genetically related virus was a family of coronaviruses identified in horseshoe bats in China in 2013, which is 96.1 per cent close, and in Laos in 2020 with 96.8 per cent genetic overlap, but they were not close enough.
“These viruses do not appear to be sufficiently closely related to Sars-CoV-2 to be identified as the immediate source of acquisition,” the report said, adding that more studies need to be done to identify the original or intermediate host that spread it to humans.
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WHO ends Covid-19 mission in Wuhan, says lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’
The Sago team was formed in October to advise the World Health Organization on the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens as the agency tries to restart the investigation into how the pandemic started.