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<keyword id="66" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="delhi" source="Orion">Delhi</keyword> on Monday reported its second <keyword id="7616951" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monkeypox" source="Orion">monkeypox</keyword> case. A 35-year-old Nigerian man, who was admitted to the LNJP hospital, has tested positive for the infection, a source told IANS. He is the second confirmed case of monkeypox in the city. The foreign national was admitted two days ago to the LNJP hospital which has been designated by the government as the nodal hospital for treatment of the infection. As per the source, the Nigerian man has no recent history of foreign travel. His samples were sent to the <keyword id="6375751" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="national-institute-of-virology" source="Orion">National Institute of Virology</keyword> (<keyword id="50971" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="niv" source="Orion">NIV</keyword>) in <keyword id="2094" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pune" source="Orion">Pune</keyword>, and the confirmation report reached the hospital on Monday evening. Apart from that, a suspected case of monkeypox has also been admitted to the hospital on Monday. Currently, the hospital has two suspected <keyword id="44392" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cases" source="Orion">cases</keyword> of monkeypox. With two confirmed cases in the national capital, the nationwide tally of monkeypox infection has reached six while one person in Kerala has succumbed to the virus. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/jio-is-fully-ready-for-5g-rollout-in-the-shortest-period-of-time-says-akash-ambani/articleshow/93287582.cms">Jio is fully ready for 5G rollout in the shortest period of time says Akash Ambani</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/indian-markets-may-open-lower-on-fear-of-global-recession/articleshow/93286958.cms">Indian markets may open lower on fear of global recession</a>

Delhi records second monkeypox case, nationwide tally reaches 6

Samples collected from a man with suspected symptoms of <keyword id="7616951" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="monkeypox" source="Orion">Monkeypox</keyword> were sent to the <keyword id="6375751" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-institute-of-virology" source="Orion">National Institute of Virology</keyword> (<keyword id="50971" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="niv" source="Orion">NIV</keyword>) <keyword id="2094" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pune" source="Orion">Pune</keyword> on Monday. Five types of samples of the 40-year-old man currently in isolation at <keyword id="177659" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fever-hospital" source="Orion">Fever Hospital</keyword> in <keyword id="6354552" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hyderabad" source="Orion">Hyderabad</keyword> were collected and sent to the lab. The samples include swab from throat, blood, urine, from lesions on skin. According to Fever Hospital superintendent <keyword id="14548303" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dr-k-shankar" source="Orion">Dr K. Shankar</keyword>, the results are likely to be available by Tuesday evening He termed the condition of the man as stable. According to him, the patient is restless and has a running fever. "The lesions on his neck, hands and chest are like lesions from Monkeypox. It may also be chickenpox," Dr Shankar said. The samples were collected after the man was shifted from his home town Kamareddy to Hyderabad on Sunday evening. According to officials he arrived in Kamareddy from Kuwait on July 6. He developed fever on July 20 and later when there were rashes on the body, he approached a private hospital in the town. Suspecting it to be a case of Monkeypox, doctors referred him to Kamareddy District Hospital and from there he was sent in an ambulance to Hyderabad on Sunday. Director of Public Health Dr G. Srinivasa Rao said the man's six close contacts were also identified. Though they have no symptoms, the authorities kept them in isolation as a precautionary measure. The health department is also trying to trace those who came into contact with them during the last few days. The director of public health said that people need not panic over Monkeypox as it is not a fatal disease. He said health minister Harish Rao was monitoring the situation and giving them directions. "We are taking all necessary measures," he said. This is the first suspected case of Monkeypox in Telangana. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had reported the first suspected case on July 17. A two-year-old child, who had gone to Dubai with family, was found with skin rashes on return. However, the samples sent to NIV, Pune tested negative for Monkeypox. Telangana's health department is also requesting Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad to test the samples from the suspected Monkeypox case. The RT-PCR test would be conducted at the government hospital and if the result is positive, the samples will be sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation. However, the samples from the first suspected case were directly sent to NIV. Fever Hospital in Hyderabad recently set up two isolation wards for Monkeypox cases. One isolation ward each was opened for male and female patients. Superintendent of the hospital said they have arranged for 36 beds and the requisite staff, equipment and medicines. Fever Hospital, as the Sir Ronald Ross Institute for Tropical and Communicable Diseases is popularly known, has been declared a nodal centre for treatment of suspected Monkeypox cases. On Sunday, the first suspected case was admitted. The Fever Hospital had also handled the first few suspected cases of Covid-19 in March, 2020. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rupee-appreciates-by-9-paise-to-79-8/-aided-by-crude-oil-prices/articleshow/93106589.cms">Rupee appreciates by 9 paise to 79.8/$ aided by crude oil prices</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/a-girl-born-in-a-poor-tribal-home-could-reach-the-topmost-constitutional-post-says-president-murmu/articleshow/93105884.cms">A girl born in a poor tribal home could reach the topmost constitutional post, says President Murmu</a>

Samples from Telangana's 1st suspected Monkeypox case sent to NIV

<keyword id="9485939" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covaxin" source="Orion">Covaxin</keyword>, India's first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19, has been found to be 77.8 per cent effective, according to the safety and efficacy analysis data from Phase III clinical trials peer reviewed and published in reputed medical journal The Lancet. Hyderabad-based <keyword id="149108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharat-biotech" source="Orion">Bharat Biotech</keyword> said the Lancet peer-review confirms the efficacy analysis which demonstrates Covaxin to be effective against Covid-19. The vaccine maker Covaxin is the only Covid-19 vaccine to have demonstrated efficacy data from phase III clinical trials against the Delta variant at 65.2 per cent. A"The efficacy analysis demonstrates Covaxin to be 77.8 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid-19, through evaluation of 130 confirmed cases, with 24 observed in the vaccine group versus 106 in the placebo group," the company said. The efficacy analysis also demonstrates Covaxin to be 93.4 per cent effective against severe symptomatic Covid-19 "Safety analysis demonstrates adverse events reported were similar to placebo, with 12 per cent of subjects experiencing commonly known side effects and less than 0.5 per cent of subjects experiencing serious adverse events," it said The efficacy data also shows 63.6 per cent protection against asymptomatic Covid-19, 65.2 per cent protection against the SARS-CoV-2, B.1.617.2 Delta and 70.8 per cent protection against all variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Covaxin was developed under a partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the <keyword id="6375751" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-institute-of-virology" source="Orion">National Institute of Virology</keyword>, with Bharat Biotech receiving the SARS-COV-2 strains through this collaboration. Bharat Biotech had established an ongoing collaboration with ViroVax since 2019, through the Indo-US Vaccine Action Program, to develop and evaluate IMDG (Alhydroxiquim-II), a novel TLR7/8 agonist molecule, which is formulated as part of the adjuvant in Covaxin. The Adjuvant Program of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has supported ViroVax since 2009. "The peer-review of Covaxin phase III clinical trial data in The Lancet, an authoritative voice in global medicine validates our commitment to data transparency and meeting the stringent peer-review standards of world leading medical journals," said Krishna Ella, CMD of Bharat Biotech. He said the data from their product development and clinical trials have been published in 10 peer-reviewed journals, making Covaxin one of the most highly published Covid-19 vaccines in the world. The phase 3 trial Efficacy and Safety Study involving 25,800 volunteers across 25 sites in India is India's largest ever clinical trial conducted for a Covid-19 vaccine. "I am delighted to see that the phase III efficacy data has also been published in The Lancet, one of the most reputed journals worldwide. This itself speaks high about the strong position of Covaxin amongst other global front-runners Covid-19 vaccines.A The bench to bedside journey of Covaxin in less than 10 months showcases the immense strength of Atmanirbhar Bharat along with the Indian academia and industry in fighting against the odds and carving a niche in the global community," said Balram Bhargava, Director General of the ICMR. Recently, the <keyword id="43588" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-health-organization" source="Orion">World Health Organization</keyword> granted emergency use listing to Covaxin enabling countries to expedite their regulatory approval to import and administer doses. It has also received emergency use authorizations in several countries with applications in process in more than 50 countries worldwide. Bharat Biotech has partnered with Ocugen to obtain approvals for Covaxin in the US and Canada. With more than 150 million doses manufactured, supplied, and with an excellent safety and efficacy profile, Covaxin is a major contributor to the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The vaccine is currently being evaluated in controlled clinical trials in children 2-18 years of age, with results expected during Q4 2021. Bharat Biotech said it was poised to achieve its goal of an annualized capacity of Aabout 1 billion doses of Covaxin by the end of 2021. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/nasas-spacex-crew-3-successfully-arrives-at-the-international-space-station/slidelist/87660900.cms">All you need to know about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 space flight</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/in-pics-the-tamil-nadu-floods-have-sent-1700-people-into-relief-camps/slidelist/87660150.cms">In pics: The Tamil Nadu floods have sent 1,700 people into relief camps</a>

India's Covaxin 77.8% effective for COVID-19, says Lancet Report

<keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s first indigenous vaccine against COVID-19, <keyword id="9485939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="covaxin">Covaxin</keyword>, is safe and generates immune response without any serious side effects, according to the interim results of the phase 2 trials published in The <keyword id="6361830" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="lancet">Lancet</keyword> Infectious Diseases journal. The authors of the study noted that the phase 2 results did not asses the efficacy of the vaccine codenamed BBV152. Developed by <keyword id="149108" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Biotech">Bharat Biotech</keyword> in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the <keyword id="6375751" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-institute-of-virology">National Institute of Virology</keyword> (NIV), Pune, the vaccine has been granted emergency use authorisation in clinical trial mode by the Indian government. Covaxin had initially raised concerns among experts over its emergency approval by India's drug regulator. The latest study comes a week after Bharat Biotech announced that the vaccine has shown 81 per cent efficacy in the third phase of clinical trials, the results of which are yet to be published. The phase 2 trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of BBV152 vaccine was conducted in healthy adults and adolescents aged 12-65 years at nine hospitals across nine states in India. Two intramuscular doses of vaccine were administered on day 0 and day 28. The primary outcome was assessed in all participants who had received both doses of the vaccine. Safety was assessed in participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine. Between September 5 and 12, last year, 921 potential participants were screened, 380 of whom were enrolled. "We report interim findings of the phase 2 trial on the immunogenicity and safety of BBV152, with the first dose administered on day 0 and the second dose on day 28," the authors of the study said. In the phase 1 trial, published in the same journal last month, BBV152 induced high neutralising antibody responses that remained elevated in all participants three months after the second vaccination. In the phase 2 trial, BBV152 showed better reactogenicity and safety outcomes, and enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses -- two main mechanisms within the adaptive immune system -- compared with the phase 1 trial. Adaptive immunity occurs after exposure to an antigen either from a pathogen or a vaccination. Reactogenicity refers to the property of a vaccine of being able to produce common, adverse reactions, especially excessive <keyword id="1441458" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="immunological">immunological</keyword> responses and associated signs and symptoms, including fever and sore arm at the injection site. Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine developed by chemically treating novel coronavirus samples to make them incapable of reproduction. This process leaves the viral proteins, including the spike protein of the coronavirus, which it uses to enter the human cells, intact. Given as two doses, three weeks apart, the viral proteins in the vaccine activate the immune system and prepare people for future infections with the actual infectious virus. "The results reported in this study do not permit efficacy assessments. The evaluation of safety outcomes requires extensive phase 3 clinical trials," the authors of the Lancet study said. "We were unable to assess other immune responses in convalescent serum samples due to the low quantity," they said. Even though direct comparisons between the phase 1 and 2 trials cannot be made, the reactogenicity assessments reported in this study were substantially better in the phase 2 trial than the phase 1 trial and other trials with a placebo group, according to the authors. Also, the proportion of participants reporting adverse events in the phase 2 trial were lower than in the phase 1 trial, they noted. "This study enrolled a small number of participants aged 12-18 years and 55-65 years. Follow-on studies are required to establish immunogenicity in children and in those aged 65 years and older," the authors added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/craftsman-automation-has-fixed-a-price-band-of-14881490-a-share-for-its-150-crore-ipo/articleshow/81408729.cms">Auto components maker Craftsman Automation’s ₹150 crore IPO to hit the capital markets next week — price band fixed at ₹1,488–1,490</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-is-using-the-quad-alliance-to-get-help-from-the-us-japan-and-australia-to-match-chinas-covid-19-vaccine-push/articleshow/81408044.cms">India is asking the QUAD for money to boost vaccine production and counter China’s moves on the global stage</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/elon-musks-net-worth-has-eroded-60-billion-in-just-two-months-as-teslas-market-cap-falls-35/articleshow/81407453.cms">Elon Musk’s wealth has eroded $60 billion in just two months as Tesla's market cap falls 35%</a>

Covaxin phase two data shows vaccine safe, induces immune response, says Lancet study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China last week nominated the Wuhan Institute of Virology for a top science award in the country.</li><li>The lab's head, Shi Zhengli, dubbed as China's "Batwoman," separately received an honorable mention from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.</li><li>The nominations came after China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the lab deserved a Nobel Prize.</li></ul>China has nominated the Wuhan Institute of Virology for the nation's top science award, even as suspicions continue to swirl around whether or not COVID originated in its labs. The Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 18 released the list of nominees for the "Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize," which included the Wuhan Institute of Virology, per a report from local media outlet <a href="https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2021-06-20/doc-ikqcfnca2046541.shtml">Sina News</a>. The lab was nominated for its "comprehensive and systematic research on the COVID-19 virus." Shi Zhengli, the head of the Wuhan lab dubbed as China's <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-idUSKBN2A309F">"Batwoman,"</a> got an honorable mention as well for her work on "identifying the origin of COVID-19, and creating a model to isolate genes from the virus." The nomination came just a day after China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the lab <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-says-wuhan-institute-virology-deserves-nobel-prize-2021-6">deserved to win a Nobel Prize for their COVID research</a> instead of facing backlash."The genome sequence of COVID-19 was first identified by Chinese scientists, but that does not mean Wuhan is the source of the coronavirus, nor can it be inferred that the coronavirus was made by Chinese scientists," Zhao said last week at a <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1884561.shtml">press conference.</a>Shi also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-virologist-shi-zhengli-denies-covid-19-lab-leak-nyt-2021-6">denied</a> in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/world/asia/china-covid-wuhan-lab-leak.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=HomepageHomepage">interview with The New York Times</a> published on June 14 that COVID originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology."How on earth can I offer up evidence for something where there is no evidence?" Shi said during the interview with The Times."I don't know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent scientist," Shi added.Despite these repeated denials from China, there is still suspicion that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-leak-animal-spillover-coronavirus-origin-questions-2021-5">COVID was leaked from the Wuhan lab,</a> particularly after a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/intelligence-on-sick-staff-at-wuhan-lab-fuels-debate-on-covid-19-origin-11621796228">Wall Street Journal</a> report last month revealed that three staff members at the lab fell ill more than a month before experts identified and reported the first cases of COVID in the area. President Joe Biden has since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-administration-officials-call-probe-coronavirus-origins-2021-5">called for a 90-day investigation into the lab leak theory</a>.

China nominated the Wuhan Institute of Virology for the nation's top science award amid mounting suspicions that COVID was made and leaked from its labs

(Eds: With file pics) Hyderabad, Two major vaccine makers from Hyderabad, <keyword id="1379126" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Biological-E" source="Orion">Biological E</keyword> Ltd and <keyword id="149108" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bharat-biotech" source="Orion">Bharat Biotech</keyword>, together are holding about 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines ready to dispatch as and when orders are received. According to respective company sources, Biological E is holding 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine <keyword id="11370342" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="corbevax" source="Orion">Corbevax</keyword> while Bharat Biotech is sitting on a stockpile of 50 million doses of Covaxin. Dr Vikram Paradkar, Executive Vice President (Manufacturing), Biological E, said the firm produced about 30 crore doses of Corbevax in total, abiding by the vaccine manufacturing commitment to the Central government. In March '22, Biological E successfully supplied 10 crore doses to the government. "Currently, we have approximately 20 crore (200 million) doses that are fully tested and ready for supply, as and when we receive orders. Additionally, we manufactured 20 crore doses equivalent of the antigen which will help us ramp up the manufacturing of the Corbevax finished product quickly," Paradkar told PTI. The vaccine has been developed by Biological E in collaboration with Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development (Texas Children's CVD) and Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) in Houston, Texas, USA. He further said Biological E can begin with the additional vaccine supplies within eight weeks of future orders and can manufacture and supply approximately 10 crore doses of Corbevax on a monthly basis as per its qualified manufacturing capacity. Bharat Biotech sources said the vaccine maker has more than 50 million doses of Covaxin readily available in vials, and over 200 million doses as drug substance. "Additional production capacity is also available to meet product demand," they said adding fresh stocks of the vaccine are available and ready for supplies. Covaxin, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, was developed in collaboration with the <keyword id="6364555" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-council-of-medical-research" source="Orion">Indian Council of Medical Research</keyword> (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). Due to lack of product demand, production stoppage of Covaxin was initiated earlier this year and also the 50 million doses in vials are set to expire during early 2023, resulting in losses to the company, sources had earlier said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/rise-in-active-covid-19-cases-in-bihar-no-need-for-panic-says-expert/articleshow/96561025.cms">Rise in active COVID-19 cases in Bihar; no need for panic, says expert</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-19-nasal-vaccine-bharat-biotechs-incovacc-is-the-first-approved-intranasal-vaccine-in-the-world/slidelist/96542239.cms">All you need to know about the world’s first Covid-19 nasal vaccine - iNCOVACC</a>

Biological E, Bharat Biotech together sitting on stockpile of 250 million COVID vaccine doses

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Trump administration has cut funding to a non-profit agency conducting research on virus transmission between <keyword id="92255" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bats">bats</keyword> and humans, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/27/trump-cuts-research-bat-human-virus-china-213076">Politico</a>.</li><li>The funding cuts to EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based organization researching on infectious diseases, came after unfounded rumors linked it to the <keyword id="8671082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wuhan-institute-of-virology">Wuhan Institute of Virology</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="208994" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wuhan">Wuhan</keyword> Institute of Virology is a Chinese research institute that conspiracy theorists have claimed, without evidence, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-targeted-by-hackers-2020-4?r=AU&amp;IR=TIR=T">leaked the novel coronavirus to the public</a>.</li><li>EcoHealth Alliance denied sending any of its $3.7 million in government funding to the Wuhan institute. The Wuhan lab <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-20/wuhan-virus-lab-denies-any-link-to-first-coronavirus-outbreak">has also denied rumors that it had a role</a> in spreading the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>.</li><li>Experts have repeatedly said that the theory that the novel coronavirus was lab-leaked <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/23/841729646/virus-researchers-cast-doubt-on-theory-of-coronavirus-lab-accident">is incredibly unlikely</a>, and said the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>'s administration abruptly cut funding to a non-profit conducting research on virus transmission between bats and humans, over unfounded rumors linking it to a research institute in Wuhan, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/27/trump-cuts-research-bat-human-virus-china-213076">Politico reported</a>. EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based infectious-diseases research group, had all its future government funding cut to its five-year-long study on bat-to-human virus transmission, Politico reported.The cut came after rumors groundlessly accused EcoHealth Alliance of sending its $3.7 million grant received from the US government to fund the Wuhan Institute of Virology — the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-targeted-by-hackers-2020-4?r=AU&amp;IR=TIR=T">Chinese research lab</a> which conspiracy theorists have, without evidence, accused of spreading the novel coronavirus to the public.<div type="image" title="Wuhan Institute of Virology lab" height="788" width="1400" msid="75428308" hostid="261"></div><h2>EcoHealth Alliance denies all charges</h2>The <keyword id="190126" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="National-Institutes-of-Health">National Institutes of Health</keyword> (NIH), the US public health agency who sent the research grant, told EcoHealth Alliance in an email that it also needed to stop spending the rest of its 2020 grant, worth about $370,000."At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities," an NIH deputy director wrote in a letter to EcoHealth Alliance officials seen by Politico.The director also emailed Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, days before funds were frozen, asking for a list of all Chinese links to the group's study.EcoHealth Alliance said in a statement that it was planning to speak with the NIH "to understand the rationale behind their decision." "For the past 20 years our organization has been investigating the sources of emerging diseases such as COVID-19," the group said, according to Politico. "We work in the United States and in over 25 countries with institutions that have been pre-approved by federal funding agencies to do scientific research critical to preventing pandemics."According to Politico, Daszak told the NIH that "no funds from [the grant] have been sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, nor has any contract been signed."The facility has received over $3.7 million in research funding between 2014 and 2019, and has published over 20 scientific papers since 2015 on how coronaviruses spread through bats, according to the report.According to <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/obama-admin-wuhan-lab-grant/">Snopes</a>, a portion of the $3.7 million in research funding from the NIH to EcoHealth Alliance helped fund research at the Wuhan Institute, though it is unclear how much of the funding or to what capacity the money was used.A reporter from the <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/politics/virology-pandemic-covid-19-funding/2020/04/18/id/963512/">conservative outlet Newsmax</a> also asked about US funding to the Wuhan institute at an April 17 White House press briefing, though she did not mention EcoHealth Alliance by name. "We will end that grant very quickly," Trump told the reporter.The NIH and EcoHealth Alliance did not immediately respond to Business Insider's inquiry about the funding cuts.<div type="image" title="wuhan wet market" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75428314" hostid="261"></div><h2>The Wuhan lab rumors and why experts are shutting it down</h2>The Wuhan Virology Institute, which conducts high-level research on dangerous pathogens, is located about eight miles from the Wuhan wet market found to be the most likely starting point for the coronavirus outbreak.The agency has been the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3080868/coronavirus-wuhan-lab-conspiracy-theory-will-not-go-away">target of unfounded conspiracy theories</a> claiming that it accidentally leaked the virus out into the public. The lab <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-20/wuhan-virus-lab-denies-any-link-to-first-coronavirus-outbreak">has denied any role</a> in spreading the new coronavirus, though the Trump administration <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/trump-us-coronavirus-theory-china">has brought attention to the conspiracy theory</a> in recent weeks.Earlier this month, a set of State Department cables <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/">leaked to The Washington Post</a> warned of safety issues at the Wuhan lab, thrusting rumors of a potential lab accident into the spotlight.But virus researchers have said that the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/23/841729646/virus-researchers-cast-doubt-on-theory-of-coronavirus-lab-accident">idea the virus was somehow released from the Wuhan lab is incredibly unlikely</a>, and have repeatedly stressed that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans</a>.<div type="image" title="coronavirus mask" height="1378" width="2000" msid="75428317" hostid="261"></div>The coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-many-other-disease-outbreaks-to-come-2020-1">jumps from animals to humans</a>. It also shares similarities with other coronavirus outbreaks, like SARS, which was determined to have likely jumped from bats to civets to people.In the past 45 years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">at least three other pandemics have been traced back to bats</a>, including Ebola, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the Nipah virus.Despite the lack of evidence supporting the lab-leak theory, experts have had to repeatedly shut down the rumors.A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-who-virus/coronavirus-very-likely-of-animal-origin-no-sign-of-lab-manipulation-who-idUSKCN223180">poured cold water on the theory last week</a>, stating that the new coronavirus was "likely" of animal origin."All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-who-virus/coronavirus-very-likely-of-animal-origin-no-sign-of-lab-manipulation-who-idUSKCN223180">told a news briefing</a>.Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-throws-cold-water-conspiracy-theory-coronavirus-escaped-chinese-lab-2020-4">also downplayed the theory</a> last week, telling a White House press briefing that the virus mutations seemed consistent with the premise that the disease jumped from bats to humans. Last week, the Wuhan Institute of Virology <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-targeted-by-hackers-2020-4?r=AU&amp;IR=TIR=T">was targeted by hackers</a>. The WHO, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were also targeted.Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-cut-research-funds-bat-virus-conspiracy-theories-politico-2020-4">Business Insider</a>

Trump cut funding for a group researching bat-to-human virus transmissions after unfounded conspiracy theories linked it to a Wuhan lab, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>It's unlikely, but not impossible, that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-leak-animal-spillover-coronavirus-origin-questions-2021-5">coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan lab</a>.</li><li>US officials and public-health experts have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-administration-officials-call-probe-coronavirus-origins-2021-5">called for further investigation</a> of the possibility.</li><li>But even if a leak did happen, that wouldn't necessarily mean the virus was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cdc-director-redfield-coronavirus-leak-wuhan-lab-2021-3">engineered</a> in a lab.</li></ul>Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-administration-officials-call-probe-coronavirus-origins-2021-5">asked the US intelligence community</a> to redouble its efforts to find out how the pandemic started: Did the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> jump from animals to people, or did it leak from a Chinese lab?Any investigation of a potential lab leak - the possibility that a lab worker got infected then spread the virus to other people - must in turn consider two options. One is that a worker was exposed to a raw virus sample collected from bats or other animals, while the other is that the virus was genetically engineered. The evidence for either option remains sparse, so the whole notion is still considered highly unlikely.So far, much of the discourse about the lab-leak theory has centered on the latter idea: that researchers in Wuhan modified the virus before it escaped a lab. A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-science-suggests-a-wuhan-lab-leak-11622995184">recent Wall Street Journal op-ed</a> even pointed to one particular piece of the coronavirus' genome as evidence of scientific manipulation. Confirming that the virus was manipulated would, of course, show that it came out of a lab.But the opposite isn't true: Even if the virus didn't undergo any laboratory manipulation, that wouldn't rule out a lab escape. <h2>A 'smoking gun'?</h2><div type="image" title="coronavirus spike protein" height="1360" width="2100" msid="83461295" hostid="261"></div>The starting point nearly all scientists agree on in this debate is that two known bat coronaviruses are a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-natural-jump-from-bats-more-likely-than-lab-leak-2020-4">96% and 97% match</a> for the coronavirus' genetic make-up. A <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00709-1">recent study</a> suggests another virus found in bats from southern <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> could be an even closer relative.But since scientists have yet to find a bat population harboring an exact match, a lab leak can't be definitively ruled out.Those who consider the lab theory to be unlikely are quick to point out that the coronavirus's genetic code has no tell-tale hallmarks of being engineered. A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9">March 2020 study</a> analyzed the virus' DNA and concluded that it "is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus."However, the people who do think the coronavirus might have been engineered focus on a few particular areas of its genome. Steven Quay, founder and president of biopharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics Inc., <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-science-suggests-a-wuhan-lab-leak-11622995184">argued in the Wall Street Journal</a> that investigators should look closely at a part of the coronavirus' spike protein that cleaves in half in order to prep the virus to enter human cells.Many viruses use an enzyme that chops them up into smaller pieces to help them better invade cells. Different viruses use a variety of types of chops, and some work better than others. One particular chop is called the furin cleavage site. If the virus splits right here, Quay argues, it becomes "supercharged." The new coronavirus' closest known relatives do not have this site, but <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1873506120304165">other coronaviruses</a> have it, and research suggests it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-020-04750-z">can arise naturally</a>.Quay told Insider, however, that 11 labs around the world "have purposefully put in a furin site to make a virus more infectious."One of those labs, he said, is the <keyword id="8671082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wuhan-institute-of-virology">Wuhan Institute of Virology</keyword> (WIV), where researchers studied bat coronaviruses before the pandemic. Some of that work involved tweaking viruses to make them more lethal and infectious as a way to anticipate <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4996883/">future pandemics</a> - what's called gain-of-function research.David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, has called the coronavirus' furin cleavage site a "smoking gun" for the lab-leak theory. He <a href="https://nicholaswade.medium.com/origin-of-covid-following-the-clues-6f03564c038">told journalist Nicholas Wade</a> last month that the site's presence in the coronavirus poses a "powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin."However, Baltimore has since <a href="https://t.co/LgghQglbmN">walked back that comment</a>, saying Wade took his quote out of context.<h2>Efficient human-to-human transmission</h2><div type="image" title="china wuhan" height="2670" width="4000" msid="83461300" hostid="261"></div>Quay also points to the coronavirus' highly infectious nature as evidence that it could be man-made."Natural viruses don't support human-to-human transmission from the beginning," he said. Former CDC director Robert Redfield, too, has said the virus could have gotten better at infecting people in a facility like the WIV."Most of us in a lab, when we're trying to grow a virus, we're trying to make it grow better," Redfield <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cdc-director-redfield-coronavirus-leak-wuhan-lab-2021-3">told CNN</a> in March.Indeed, scientists sometimes introduce viruses to human cells in a lab over and over again to see if the virus will evolve to become better at infecting those cells."But there's a limitation to that approach if your intent is evil," John Doench, a scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, told Insider. "Because the virus is only getting good at what you asked it to do - infecting cells in a dish."It's another thing, he said, for a virus to do that effectively in the human body, which is protected by the immune system - a luxury not afforded to lab-cultured cells.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6vku1PzLd0">Anthony Fauci</a>, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said he thinks it's more likely that the coronavirus got good at jumping between people while spreading "below the radar" in China in late 2019. Growing evidence suggests <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> was spreading for weeks, if not months, before the first cases were reported.That's probably what led the virus "to be pretty well adapted when first recognized," Fauci said in March.Doench said he thinks observational bias may be leading people to incorrectly assume a lab leak is more probable than it really is."We're observing the one virus that did break through and cause and pandemic, not the billions of other viruses that failed to do so," he said. A cancer cell that's incredibly efficient at spreading in the human body "may seem engineered," Doench added, but that's because we're not comparing it to the 40 trillion other cells that didn't turn into cancer. <h2>Accidents do happen</h2><div type="image" title="wuhan institute of virology" height="2250" width="4000" msid="83461303" hostid="261"></div>Those who think the coronavirus might have jumped from an unaltered lab sample to a lab worker mostly cite past instances in which that exact thing happened. SARS, another coronavirus, has leaked from labs <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC416634/">four times</a>: in Taiwan, Singapore, and China. In 2004, two researchers in Beijing got infected with SARS and passed it to seven other people.Three years ago, US officials visiting Wuhan sent <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/">a pair of memos</a> to the State Department warning of inadequate safety measures there. And a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/intelligence-on-sick-staff-at-wuhan-lab-fuels-debate-on-covid-19-origin-11621796228">report obtained by the Wall Street Journal</a> suggested three WIV staff were hospitalized with "COVID-like" symptoms in the fall of 2019.However, it's possible the virus had already started to spread in the city by then, and the World <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health">Health</keyword> Organization team that visited Wuhan to investigate the pandemic's origin said it was satisfied with the WIV's safety protocol.Peter Ben Embarek, a scientist specializing in animal disease who was on that WHO trip, said it's natural to speculate about a link between one of the labs in Wuhan and the coronavirus outbreak there.<div type="image" title="wuhan institute of virology" height="4024" width="6048" msid="83461309" hostid="261"></div>"Even the staff in these labs told us that was their first reaction when they heard about this new emerging disease, this coronavirus: 'This is something coming out of our labs,'" Ben Embarek said in March.But the WIV seems to have made rigorous changes since the State Department memos, and Ben Embarek said it now houses a "state-of-the-art lab."That's part of the reason his WHO team thinks it's "very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place."

Even if the coronavirus did leak from a Wuhan lab, that wouldn't necessarily mean it was engineered

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists haven't <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-leak-animal-spillover-coronavirus-origin-questions-2021-5">ruled out the possibility</a> that the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> leaked from a <keyword id="47994" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="lab">lab</keyword>.</li><li>US agencies have <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins">given grants to a nonprofit</a> that funds laboratories that alter coronaviruses.</li><li>So US officials may have dismissed the lab <keyword id="6365882" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="leak">leak</keyword> theory to avoid association with this research.</li></ul>Is the best way to protect people from a dangerous virus to create one in a lab? That's the central question in the debate over gain-of-function research, a branch of virology that alters viruses in a controlled environment to make them more transmissible or infectious.Proponents of this type of research say the work enables them to predict deadly pathogens that might emerge in real life and start work on vaccines or treatments ahead. But opponents think the experiments are simply too risky. A lab without proper safety protocol could accidentally release a more transmissible virus into the human population.Competing theories about the coronavirus' origin have recently thrust this gain-of-function debate into the spotlight, since a prominent lab, the <keyword id="8671082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wuhan-institute-of-virology">Wuhan Institute of Virology</keyword>, was conducting that kind of research on coronaviruses. What's more, the US has funded grants that supported that lab - which might have given State Department officials an incentive not to thoroughly investigate the possibility of a lab leak, according to <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins">a recent Vanity Fair investigation.</a><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins">Vanity Fair reported</a> that at a December 2020 meeting, US State Department officials were "explicitly told by colleagues not to explore the Wuhan Institute of Virology's gain-of-function research, because it would bring unwelcome attention to US government funding of it."For years, the US government gave grants to a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance, which in turn funded gain-of-function research - including studies at the Wuhan institute.In <a href="http://downloads.vanityfair.com/lab-leak-theory/Response_to_Former_Asst_Sec_Ford.pdf?_ga=2.238210306.362507870.1622719090-68154440.1622719072">a January internal memo</a> obtained by Vanity Fair, Thomas DiNanno, former acting assistant secretary of the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, wrote that his colleagues had warned leaders within his bureau "not to pursue an investigation into the origin of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>" because it would "open a can of worms."Of course, the possibility that US officials may have wanted to distance themselves from any association with gain-of-function work doesn't necessarily make the lab-leak theory more credible. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-lab-leak-animal-spillover-coronavirus-origin-questions-2021-5">The leading theory</a> is still that the virus spilled over to people from animals. That's because around 75% of all new infectious diseases come to us from animals, and the coronavirus' genetic code is very similar to that of other coronaviruses found in bats.Still, a growing chorus of political and public-health leaders are calling for more thorough investigations into the coronavirus' origin, including the possibility that it leaked from a lab. <h2>How the lab-leak theory reentered the conversation</h2><div type="image" title="WHO investigation Wuhan" height="1211" width="2000" msid="83261347" hostid="261"></div>The lab leak theory gained traction again at the end of March, after World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/30-03-2021-who-calls-for-further-studies-data-on-origin-of-sars-cov-2-virus-reiterates-that-all-hypotheses-remain-open">stated</a> that "all hypotheses remain on the table" as to the virus' origin - even after a WHO report concluded that a lab leak was unlikely. In <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/694.1">a May letter</a>, a group of biologists wrote that the lab-leak theory should be taken seriously "until we have sufficient data."Proponents of this possibility usually point to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), since scientists were studying coronaviruses there before the <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword>.But at the start of the pandemic, scientists quickly shut down the notion that the WIV could be to blame. A <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30418-9/fulltext">February 2020 statement</a> published by 27 scientists in the journal The Lancet said the scientific community had overwhelmingly concluded that the virus originated in wildlife."We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin," the statement read.However, the organizer of that statement was the president of EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak.<div type="image" title="Wuhan lab" height="1125" width="2000" msid="83261348" hostid="261"></div>In May 2014, EcoHealth received a roughly $3.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of which went toward gain-of-function experiments. By 2018, EcoHealth was receiving up to $15 million per year in grant money from federal agencies, according to Vanity Fair.In one instance, EcoHealth Alliance <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3985.pdf">helped fund research</a> that created a new infectious pathogen using the molecular structure of the SARS virus. The aim of the study, according to the researchers, was to warn of the potential risk of a SARS-related virus re-emerging from bats.One of the paper's authors was a prominent WIV virologist, Shi Zhengli. NIAID and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are cited as financial supporters of the research.The Trump administration canceled EcoHealth's $3.7 million grant in April 2020. Then the NIH reinstated the grant in July but temporarily suspended its research activities.Both NIAID director Anthony Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins have said that US agencies never funded gain-of-function research at the WIV."I fully agree that you should investigate where the virus came from," Fauci told Senator Rand Paul at <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/an-update-from-federal-officials-on-efforts-to-combat-covid-19">a Senate hearing last month</a>. "But again, we have not funded gain-of-function research on this virus in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. No matter how many times you say it, it didn't happen."He added, though, that it would have been "irresponsible" if the US hadn't investigated bat viruses that may have caused the SARS outbreak. "Are you really saying that we are implicated because we gave a multibillion-dollar institution $120,000 a year for bat surveillance?" Fauci <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ab90cdfd-e7c4-496d-a75c-7aa93f6176fe">told the Financial Times</a> on Friday.<h2>The US has funded gain-of-function research before</h2><div type="image" title="Fauci Biden" height="1333" width="2000" msid="83261349" hostid="261"></div>The US currently decides whether to fund gain-of-function experiments on a case-by-case basis. A multidisciplinary board at the Department of Health and Human Services evaluates the research to determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks.The Trump administration implemented that policy in 2017. Before that, the Obama administration had put a moratorium on new funding for gain-of-function experiments that could make influenza, MERS, or SARS viruses more transmissible - or more likely to cause disease - through respiratory droplets in mammals. But that rule, created in October 2014, still made exceptions for research that was "urgently necessary to protect the public health or national security."An NIH official <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins">told Vanity Fair</a> that the government's approach to gain-of-function is complicated, though."If you ban gain-of-function research, you ban all of virology," the official said, adding, "Ever since the moratorium, everyone's gone wink-wink and just done gain-of-function research anyway."Aylin Woodward contributed reporting.

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