WHO forms new advisory group to find Covid origins

The World Health Organization (WHO) said its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be "our last chance" to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and and urged China to provide data from early cases. Making the announcement, the world health body said on Wednesday that it has proposed 26 names, out of 700 applications received by it, for the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). The group will advise it on the development of a global framework for studies into the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the investigation was hampered by a dearth of raw data pertaining to the first days of the outbreak's spread and has called for lab audits. Ghebreyesus that the experts were chosen for their “world-class expertise” and experience cutting across disciplines. “The selection was on the basis of their geographic and gender diversity as well. We thank all those who expressed their interest in SAGO,” he added. The experts have been selected from across fields such as epidemiology, animal health, ecology, clinical medicine, virology, genomics, molecular epidemiology, molecular biology, biology, food safety, biosafety, biosecurity and public health.