CORONAVIRUS: US knew that virus could ‘escape’ from lab in Wuhan China two years ago

A US-funded Chinese laboratory was carrying out experiments on bats from the cave thought to be ‘ground zero’ for the coronavirus pandemic two years before the outbreak. Scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology have been probing flying mammals from caves in Yunnan since 2011 – where it is thought the deadly Covid-19 bug came from.

The research was then published in November 2017 under the heading ‘Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus.’ It is further claimed the research was paid for by a $3.7m grant from the US government.

Experts believe the killer virus originally came from bats but may have been passed onto humans through an intermediary animal.

While the actual source of the bug is not known, many believe it first began infecting humans last year after being transmitted from a live animal market in Wuhan, however, some have suggested the outbreak could have come from the virus leaking from the institute.

The news comes after a Chinese doctor at the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital highlighted research that showed at least 13 of the first 41 people diagnosed with the virus had no contact with the market.

Dr Cao Bin said: “It seems clear that the seafood market is not the only origin of the virus.”