ORGANIZATIONS MISSION
INVESTIGATING THE PANDEMICS
ORIGIN.
PETER, GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH
US.
I WANT TO BEGIN WITH THIS
UPCOMING WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION REPORT.
OBVIOUSLY, THE WORLD IS WATCHING
AND ANTICIPATING VERY CLOSELY.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE
POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF THIS VIRUS
BASED ON THE FINDINGS THAT YOU
AND YOUR TEAM MADE?
>> THERES A LOT OF NEW
INFORMATION THATS GOING TO COME
OUT IN THIS REPORT, PROBABLY IN
10 TO 14 DAYS FROM NOW,
INCLUDING DATES FROM THE FIRST
CLUSTERS OF CASES IN WUHAN, ON
THE ANIMAL LINKS TO THIS VIRUS
AND ON THE GENETIC SEQUENCING
THATS BEEN GOING ON IN CHINA
AROUND THIS VIRUS.
ONE THING IS CLEAR.
THIS OUTBREAK DID SEEM TO BE
CENTERED ON WUHAN.
IT SEEMS TO BE -- TO HAVE BEEN
VERY EXPLOSIVE IN THE SECOND OR
THIRD WEEK OF DECEMBER.
AND THERE ARE CLEAR LINKS FROM
THE MARKET IN WUHAN, THE SEAFOOD
MARKET, THROUGH THE WILDLIFE
FARMING NETWORK INTO ANIMALS
THAT CARRY CORONAVIRUSES IN THE
WILD.
WE DONT KNOW FOR SURE THATS
THE PATHWAY, BUT ITS LOOKING
MORE LIKELY AT THE END OF THIS.
>> CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT
THE ACCESS YOU HAD.
THERE WAS CONCERN YOU MAY HAVE
SEEN EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS HAD
RESERVATIONS ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF
ACCESS YOUR TEAM HAD, WHETHER
CHINESE OFFICIALS WERE
FORTHCOMING IN THE MATERIAL AND
INFORMATION YOU REQUESTED.
CAN YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON THAT
PROCESS?
>> YEAH, THIS WAS A JOINT
MISSION.
CHINA IS A MEMBER OF THE WORLD
HEALTH ASSEMBLY AND THEY VOTED
FOR THIS MISSION TO HAPPEN.
BUT, OF COURSE, THEY ARE FULLY
AWARE THAT THE EYES OF THE WORLD
ARE WATCHING THIS AND LOOKING TO
FIND AN ANSWER FOR WHERE THIS
VIRUS ORIGINATED.
LOOK, I THINK WE GOT PRETTY
INCREDIBLE ACCESS.
WE GOT INTO THE LABS THAT HAVE
BEEN TARGETED AS POTENTIAL
SOURCE OF THE OUTBREAK.
WE GOT INTO THE MARKET WHERE THE
FIRST CASEDS WERE FOUND.
WE MET WITH SOME OF THE FIRST
KNOWN PATIENTS OF COVID THAT
SURVIVED.
WE ASKED QUESTIONS THAT WERENT
VETTED BEFOREHAND, AND WE GOT
ANSWERS AND WE JUDGED, BASED ON
THOSE ANSWERS AND THE DATA WE
SAW, WHAT WE THINK THE MOST
LIKELY PATHWAY THIS VIRUS TOOK
WAS.
THATS AS GOOD AS YOU CAN DO AT
THIS POINT IN TERMS OF A W.H.O.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE
EFFORT.
AND I THINK THE WORLD WILL BE
SURPRISED AT HOW MUCH DETAIL
CAME OUT OF THIS MISSION.
>> SO WHEN YOUR TEAM WAS PUTTING
THIS REPORT TOGETHER, SIR, WAS
THERE ANY KEY POINTS THAT THE
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TEAM
AND CHINESE SCIENTISTS DISAGREED
OVER?
WAS THERE ANY PRESSURE FROM THE
CHINESE GOVERNMENT OR OTHER
OUTSIDE ACTORS ABOUT HOW THIS
REPORT SHOULD BE PUT TOGETHER?
>> THE PRESSURE WAS THERE FROM
DAY ONE.
ESPECIALLY FROM THE REST OF THE
WORLD LOOKING IN.
WE SAW THE PRESS PACK EVERY DAY
AND EVERY TRIP THAT WE WENT ON,
EVERY FIELD SITE MISSION.
BUT I THINK WHAT WE SAW
INTERNALLY BETWEEN THE W.H.O.
TEAM OF EXPERTS AND THE
SCIENTISTS WORKING FOR THE CHINA
SIDE WERE SCIENTIFIC DEBATES
AROUND THE ORIGINS.
WE SAW THE DATA.
WE DISCUSSED IT.
WE DEBATED IT.
WE SAID, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
REALLY, WHAT WE FOUND WERE SOME
UNANIMOUS CONCLUSIONS THAT ITS
UNLIKELY, EXTREMELY UNLIKELY
THAT THIS VIRUS ESCAPED FROM A
LABORATORY.
THAT ITS POSSIBLE THAT THE
SO-CALLED HYPOTHESIS, THAT
FROZEN FOOD COULD BE PLAYING A
ROLE IN SOME OF THE OUTBREAKS,
BUT FAR MORE LIKELY IS THIS
PATHWAY FROM WILDLIFE INTO
FARMED ANIMALS AND IN THIS CASE,
WILDLIFE FARMS, INTO PEOPLE IN
WUHAN.
I THINK EVERYONE AGREED ON MOST
OF THOSE MAJOR CONCLUSIONS WHICH
IS A SIGNIFICANT, YOU KNOW, A
POSITIVE SIGN.
>> SO YOU WOULD SAFELY SAY THAT
IT DID NOT ORIGINATE IN THE
LABORATORY AS SOME HAVE
SUGGESTED.
THAT IT DID NOT ORIGINATE FROM
THE WUHAN INSTITUTE OF VIROLOGY?
YOU CAN RULE THAT OUT BASED ON
WHAT YOUVE SEEN?
>> NO, WERE NOT RULING IT OUT.
WHAT THIS REPORT SAYS, IS IT
POSSIBLE?
IS IT LIKELY?
IS IT UNLIKELY?
AND OUR CONCLUSION, IT WAS
EXTREMELY UNLIKELY.
LAB ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN.
THEY TEND TO HAPPEN WHEN VIRUSES
ARE KEPT IN CULTURES WHERE
THERES LOTS OF VIRUSES PRESENT.
THERE DIDNT SEEM TO BE THOSE
CULTURES PRESENT IN THE WUHAN
LAB.
NO EVIDENCE THERE WAS ANY VIRUS
CLUSTER RELATED TO SARS-CoV-2 IN
THAT LAB.
THE LAB IS VERY WELL RUN.
WE TALKED TO THE STAFF AND ITS
A NEW EFFICIENT LAB.
IT JUST SEEMS EXTREMELY
UNLIKELY.
>> SO LOOKING AHEAD, ARE THERE
ANY FINDINGS IN YOUR REPORT THAT
PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERS WILL BE
ABLE TO APPLY TO DEALING WITH
THE RISE OF COVID-19 VARIANTS
WHICH IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF
CONCERN RIGHT NOW?
>> WELL, I THINK THE LESSON FOR
US REALLY IS ON A BIGGER TIME
SCALE.
WE ARE SEEING MORE AND MORE
PANDEMICS, EMERGING DISEASES
LIKE COVID EMERGE.
THEY TEND TO EMERGE WHERE PEOPLE
MAKE CONTACT WITH WILDLIFE
RESERVOIRS OF DISEASE.
WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THE
PATHWAYS AND SHUT THEM DOWN.
THE VARIANTS ARE YET ANOTHER
STING IN THE TALE OF THIS
PANDEMIC.
IF WE WANT TO PREVENT THIS SORT
OF THING HAPPENING AGAIN, WE
HAVE TO GET INTO PREVENTIVE
MODE.
START LOOKING AT THE PATHWAYS
THAT ARE RISKY AND SHUTTING THEM
DOWN.
CHINA CLOSED DOWN THE WILDLIFE
FARMS THAT WERE SUPPLYING FOOD
TO MARKETS LIKE THE SEAFOOD
MARKET BACK IN FEBRUARY, DURING
THE MIDDLE OF THE OUTBREAK.
THERES A REASON FOR THAT.
IT WAS GOOD FOR CONSERVATION AND
PUBLIC HEALTH.
WE NEED TO SHUT DOWN THESE