A WHO team disagreed after investigating the theory that the virus was the result of a laboratory accident.
A scientist has now published a study with evidence to the contrary.
Despite the long duration that the corona virus has now accompanied the world, the origin of the pathogen continues to be disputed.
The Beijing government has already agreed to an independent investigation of the first cases by a WHO team.
A scientist from the University of Hamburg published a study showing that the virus is said to be a laboratory accident in Wuhan.
Hamburg - For about a year now, the corona virus has been causing waves of infections, lockdowns and deaths worldwide.
But exactly where the virus came from and how it came about is still not fully understood.
The United States and an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO) recently asked China to provide more data on the origin of the corona pandemic.
Corona: WHO starts investigation into the origin of the virus
The head of the WHO mission in Wuhan, Peter Ben Embarek, would like to find possible early corona cases, as he told the
AFP
news
agency
.
The government in Beijing initially refused to carry out a corresponding investigation, which is to be carried out independently and internationally in order to get to the bottom of the pandemic and the origin of the virus, and only approved it for a period of two weeks a year later.
Corona: Experts believe in bat theory, but important data is missing
The first cases were reported in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Ben Embarek and his international WHO team continue to assume that the virus was transmitted from bats to humans via another animal as an intermediate host.
But when and where exactly this could have happened cannot be clarified according to their information.
WHO experts visited the city of Wuhan in early February, where a theory that the virus was the result of a laboratory accident was also rejected.
According to reports, China apparently refused to release all important data on the first 174 cases in December 2019. Ben Embarek's team would now like to examine the raw data on previous disease courses, which could represent already undetected Covid-19 cases.
These include pneumonia, flu, and fever.
This concerns a total of 72,000 cases between October and December, of which Chinese experts only checked 92 for the virus.
These were all negative.
Corona: Meanwhile, scientists publish a study with a different claim
In a recently published study, however, the nanoscientist Roland Wiesendanger from the University of Hamburg comes to a different conclusion.
After evaluating "600 clues", he is of the opinion that the pandemic could be the result of a laboratory accident.
He does not assume that the virus has spread via the wild animal market, but rather that it comes from the nearby high-security laboratory of the virological institute in Wuhan.
Corona: Various clues should indicate laboratory virus
The scientist cites various indications to confirm his results.
First of all, the coronaviruses could "couple surprisingly well to human cell receptors and penetrate into human cells," which indicates "an unnatural origin," said Wiesendanger.
In addition, no bats were offered for sale at the wild animal market in question in Wuhan.
In return, the virological institute he is considering has "one of the world's largest collections of bat pathogens, which come from caves far away in southern Chinese provinces".
There are also “numerous indications” that “a young scientist from the virological institute in Wuhan was the first to be infected”.
The pathogen could have spread in October 2019.
Corona: Upcoming WHO investigation politically explosive
Even if other scientists continue to be skeptical and stress that it is only a theory: The investigation by the WHO team around Ben Embarek is therefore all the more politically sensitive.
Beijing rejects any responsibility for the pandemic and is also bringing further spread possibilities into play.
Joe Biden's security adviser Jake Sullivan also said Washington has "serious concerns" about the way the investigation in Wuhan has gone.
(jh)