The researchers are heading to China in a preliminary phase of the bid to discover which animal the coronavirus came from and how it jumped to humans. They will prepare the groundwork for a later investigation.
A World Health Organization animal health expert and an epidemiologist are traveling to the Chinese capital Beijing to organize an investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus.
The experts will work with Chinese scientists to determine the scope and itinerary of the investigation, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva on Friday.
The virus is thought to have emerged at a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
While experts think it jumped the species barrier between humans and wild animals on sale at the market, they do not know for certain.
At the World Health Assembly in May more than 120 nations called for an investigation into the origins of the virus. China had insisted that the WHO lead the investigation and also stipulated it should wait until the pandemic was brought under control. Sending two experts for this advanced “scoping mission,” as the WHO calls it, was the compromise ultimately reached.
Source: DW.com
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