It May Be Too Late to Find the Origin of COVID-19. The WHO Is Trying Anyway

Almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s still not clear exactly how, where or when the SARS-CoV-2 virus began infecting people. Many experts believe the virus jumped from animal hosts to humans, but researchers continue to investigate the possibility that it escaped from a laboratory. It’s not clear which, if either, of those theories is correct, and as time passes, the chances of finding a concrete answer grow slimmer. But on Oct. 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) unveiled a new effort to capitalize on whatever limited time remains: the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a group of international experts representing specialties including epidemiology, animal health, virology, genomics, public health and tropical medicine. The advisory group is tasked with learning what it can, at this point, about SARS-CoV-2, as well as streamlining the global study of future emerging pathogens, in hopes of more quickly understanding their origins and transmission so they can be contained. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In short, the advisory group was formed to “do better the next time,” says Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses unit in the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. But SAGO’s first task will be bringing new life to the largely stalled investigation of COVID-19’s origins—an investigation that politicians, world leaders and many members of the ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news