Covid ‘patient zero’ may have been Wuhan lab worker infected by bat, WHO expert claims – World News

Peter Embarek headed a team of experts sent to Wuhan, China, this Spring by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to investigate the origin of the disease – with four theories relating to human lab work proposed as possible origins of the virus

The world’s first Covid patient may have been infected by a bat during laboratory work, an investigator says.

Professor Peter Ben Embarek headed a team of experts sent to Wuhan, China, this spring by the World Health Organisation to investigate the origin of the disease.

The WHO previously said it was “unlikely” the virus derived from a laboratory, but did say it was “likely” the pandemic began when a bat infected a human.

The exact origins of the disease remain a mystery. Transmission from bats is one of many possible theories.

But Prof Embarek, speaking to Danish media, has now suggested the infection may well have happened by collecting – or working with – bats during research work in Wuhan.

The scientist said it was a “probable hypothesis” that a research employee may have been infected in such a way – or in the field taking samples.

He said: “It could be that an employee from a lab who has been infected in the field while he or she was collecting samples in a bat cave.

“A scenario like this, although it falls under the category of a lab leak, also falls under the first hypothesis that we have which is: transmission directly from bat to human.

“And we look at that hypothesis as being very probable.”

Neither the WHO or Prof Embarek has confirmed the the virus began in this way.

However, reports found horseshoe bats are central in the scientific investigation work of where COVID came from.

Horseshoe bats in the Wuhan area are not found outdoors, with the only known close human contact to be employees working in the city labs.

Prof Embarek said he and his team visited two laboratories in the Wuhan area.

During the visit to one, he told TV2 how he asked the management how old the lab was.

Prof Embarek said: “And then they said, well it’s from December 2019. Then we moved to these new laboratories on December 2, 2019.”

It was noted the new lab location was 500 metres from the Wuhan live animal market at the centre of the pandemic.

However, Prof Embarek said more evidence is needed to establish what role the laboratory may have played.

Following the Wuhan visit, which was for scientific purposes only as opposed to a formal investigation, Prof Embarek said there were other theories as to how the virus emerged.

He said a human could have been infected directly from a bat, or infected by a product that was infected with bat virus.

It was also proposed a bat may have infected another animal, which had then infected a human or it emerged directly from one of Wuhan’s laboratories.

All four possible scenarios were included in the final report, Prof Embarek said the expert group’s definitions of what theories were most likely should not be looked at ‘so narrowly’.