INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: A laboratory leak was the most likely origin of the Covid-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc across the world, the Wall Street
Journal (WSJ) has reported, citing findings by the US Energy Department.According to a classified intelligence report provided to the White
House and key members of Congress, the deadly virus likely spread due to a mishap at a Chinese laboratory.The American Energy Department had
previously been undecided on the source of the virus
classified report, the WSJ said.The report also highlighted how other agencies judged that the spread of the virus was likely the result of
a natural transmission, while others are undecided."The updated document underscores how intelligence officials are still putting together
the pieces on how Covid-19 emerged
More than one million Americans have died in the pandemic that began more than three years ago," the report said.The report, however,
leak theory vs natural origin theoryThe origin of Covid-19 is still the subject of ongoing scientific investigation and debate
While the exact origin is not yet fully understood, the scientific consensus is that SARS-CoV-2 most likely originated in animals, with bats
being the leading suspect, before it jumped to humans, possibly through an intermediate host.However, the theory that the virus may have
accidentally leaked from a laboratory, specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China, has also been a subject of debate
and investigation.In 2021, US President Joe Biden had ordered intelligence officials to "redouble" efforts to investigate the origins of
Covid-19, including the theory that it may have originated in a laboratory in China.Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO)
said it will continue pushing until it finds an answer to how the Covid-19 pandemic started.Solving the mystery of where the SARS CoV-2
virus came from and how it began spreading among humans is considered vital for averting future pandemics.The WHO carried out a first phase
of investigation by sending a team of international experts to Wuhan, China, in early 2021 to produce a first phase report, written in
conjunction with their Chinese counterparts.But that investigation faced criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not
sufficiently evaluating the lab-leak theory, which it deemed "extremely unlikely".The political rhetoric reached fever-pitch over that
theory, which was favoured by the administration of former US president Donald Trump but always flatly rejected by China.Overall, while the
origin of Covid-19 remains uncertain, the available evidence suggests that it likely originated in animals and was transmitted to
humans.Some scientists argue that the virus probably emerged naturally and leapt from an animal to a human.Yet no confirmed animal source
for Covid-19 has been identified yet
severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, epidemic of 2002
Moreover, the fact that some Wuhan scientists reportedly fell ill with symptoms similar to Covid-19 prior to the outbreak of the pandemic
has been used by some, including US intelligence, as evidence to support the theory that the virus may have originated in a laboratory
natural-origin theory as the researchers might have become sick with a "seasonal flu"
