Fauci yet again dismisses conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was made in a Wuhan lab after Pompeo touted 'enormous evidence' of a cover up
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Rosie Perper
May 5, 2020, 11:15 IST
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Capitol Hill on March 11, 2020.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that there was no evidence to suggest that the novel coronavirus was manufactured in a laboratory.
Conspiracy theorists have, without evidence, linked the outbreak to a research institute in Wuhan and have suggested that the virus was developed there and accidentally released onto the public.
But in an interview published in National Geographic on Monday, Fauci said that scientific evidence is "very, very strongly leaning toward" the conclusion that the virus originated in nature and jumped from animals to humans.
Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert and a front-facing member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that there was no evidence that the new coronavirus was made in a Wuhan lab.
In an interview published in National Geographic on Monday, Fauci said that scientific evidence is "very, very strongly leaning toward" the conclusion that the virus originated in nature and jumped from animals to humans.
"If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated … Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species," he told National Geographic.
Conspiracy theorists have, without evidence, linked the outbreak to the Wuhan Virology Institute, which conducts high-level research on dangerous pathogens and is located about eight miles from the Wuhan wet market found to be the most likely starting point for the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier this month, a set of State Department cables leaked to The Washington Post warned of safety issues at the Wuhan lab, thrusting rumors of a potential lab accident into the spotlight.
"China has a history of infecting the world and they have a history of running sub-standard laboratories," he told ABC News' Martha Raddatz during his appearance on "This Week." "These aren't the first times that we have had the world exposed to viruses as a result of failures from a Chinese lab."
The coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumps from animals to humans. It also shares similarities with other coronavirus outbreaks, like SARS, which was determined to have likely jumped from bats to civets to people.
The World Health Organization and Fauci both recently said that all available evidence points to the virus being of animal origin, most likely bats.
Speaking to National Geographic, Fauci stressed the importance of keeping social distancing measures and adequate testing procedures in place and said we may see a resurgence of the virus in the future as lockdown measures are lifted.
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"I don't think there's a chance that this virus is just going to disappear," he said.
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