U.S. scientists say China hampering search for virus origin

American scientists are actively working to learn the origin of the deadly coronavirus behind the pandemic now spreading around the world, but say a lack of Chinese virus samples has hampered research.

Officials and experts in virology and epidemics tell The Washington Times that researchers need to learn the origins of the virus to find treatments and vaccines and to better prepare for future pandemics.

Robert G. Darling, a medical doctor and expert on biological weapons formerly with the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, said it is crucial that researchers find out where the virus originated and how it spread.

Authorities in Beijing say the virus outbreak began at a wild animal market in Wuhan, based on reports that many of those first infected worked at the market.

But the skeptics point to a Chinese scientific study that also reported that some early victims had no connection to the market.

They also note the emergence of new insights into the virus that have emerged in recent weeks both from Chinese state media and unofficial online reports, including a censored scientific paper by two Chinese researchers.

The two scientists, Xiao Botao and Lei Xiao, are with the state-run universities in Guangzhou and Wuhan. They argue in the paper that the virus may have escaped from a laboratory near the market.

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