The CIA has changed its position on the origin of the Covid-19 virus, according to a report by NBC News on Saturday. The intelligence agency now believes that the coronavirus may have leaked from a Chinese lab, a departure from its previous stance of not taking a definitive position.
A CIA spokesperson stated to NBC News, “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting.” The agency continues to consider both research-related and natural origin scenarios as plausible.
This shift in stance occurred following the confirmation of John Radcliffe as the new CIA director. Radcliffe expressed his belief in an interview on Friday that U.S. intelligence and science suggest Covid-19 originated from an accidental release or “lab leak” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, where the outbreak was first detected in late 2019.
The debate over the origins of Covid-19 remains contentious. Some, like former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci, argue that the virus naturally crossed over to humans from bats or another intermediary species, possibly at a Wuhan seafood market in late 2019.
On the other hand, some in the Trump administration and the House Committee for Government Oversight and Reform claim that the virus escaped from research activities in the region, pointing to the outbreak’s location and U.S. funding documents detailing similar virus research at WIV.
China denies any laboratory involvement in the virus’s origin. The CIA’s revised position, as reported by The New York Times, suggests that Chinese authorities may not know or wish to disclose the virus’s origin. The origin of Covid-19 holds significant implications for international relations with China, public health, and future virus research.
In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, overseeing the CIA and 16 other intelligence agencies, released a report on Covid-19’s origins. The report indicated that four intelligence agencies have low confidence that the initial infection resulted from natural exposure to an infected animal. One agency, identified as the FBI, expressed medium confidence in a laboratory incident related to experimentation or animal handling.
Previously uncertain agencies, like the Energy Department, now lean towards a laboratory origin with low confidence. The agency suggests that the spillover could be linked to research activities at the Wuhan Center for Disease Control, a distinct entity from WIV, according to The New York Times.
While the CIA was undecided during the initial report, its recent shift towards favoring a laboratory origin was not based on new information but a reevaluation of existing data. The assessment began during the Biden administration’s final weeks and concluded before Trump’s term, as per NBC News.
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