Jakarta, – World Health Organization (WHO) is said to be inspecting the origins of the Coronavirus Disease (2019) COVID-19 pandemic down to its roots. The journey to unmask the truth will begin in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak was first reported.
The WHO investigation team will involve epidemiologists, virologists and scientists from various disciplines, public health, animal health and food safety.
The initial phase of the investigation will be carried out by researchers already in China, and later international scientists will fly to Wuhan after the first results are reported.
However, the role of the seafood market in the plague’s spread is still a mystery that cannot be solved. The WHO mission will investigate wildlife and livestock sold at the market, including foxes, raccoons and sika deer.
Besides the Huanan market, investigators will also investigate other markets in Wuhan and trace animal travel through China and across borders. Investigators will prioritize animals known to be susceptible to the virus, such as cats and stoats.
The team will also look at Wuhan hospital records to find out whether the virus spread before December 2019. Researchers will interview the first people identified as having COVID-19, to find out where they may have been exposed, and will carry out tests.
Blood samples from medical staff, laboratory technicians and agricultural workers are collected in the weeks to months before December, to look for antibodies compatible against the new coronavirus.
Eight months after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the WHO has just moved to investigate the origin of the virus. the US accused China of being negligent and caused the outbreak to break out.
Even the 45th US President Donald Trump to label this virus with the name ‘China Virus’. Many parties have asked for investigations to be carried out to find out where the blasted virus came from.
Now that the WHO is preparing its team to start the investigation, some scientists believe that the effort will meet challenges on its way. Most researchers think the virus originated in bats, but how the virus spread to humans is still unknown.
I have transmitted other coronaviruses from intermediate animal hosts; for example, the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2002-04 was likely transmitted to people from raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) or civets.
“Finding an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2 is like looking for a needle in the largest haystack in the world.” said Angela Rasmussen, virologist at Columbia University in New York City, launching Nature, quoted Thursday (12/11/2020).
Scientists also think researching the origins of the virus can take years and requires collaboration between scientists across disciplines and government officials.
Tracing the origins of the deadly pathogen will also intersect with the heated geopolitical tensions of Washington and Beijing under Trump and Xi Jinping. However, the projection of Joe Biden’s victory in US political contestation this year is expected to make conditions expected to be more fluid.
Because Joe Biden also said he would cancel the US withdrawal from the WHO. Support from China and the US will create a much more positive environment for conducting research in this area.
After a thorough investigation in Wuhan, tracing will continue to be carried out throughout China and will spread outside China as well. Let’s just stay tuned for developments. (source: CNBC)
Anang Fadhilah
