A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's
The CIA now states that the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a laboratory, as per an assessment released on Saturday (local time) that implicates China while acknowledging the agency’s “low confidence” in the conclusion.

This discovery is not based on new intelligence, and the report was carried out at the request of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns.

It was declassified and made public on Saturday under the direction of President Donald Trump’s selection to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who officially assumed the role of director on Thursday.

A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's
A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.(AP)

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed satisfaction on Saturday with the CIA’s determination in the final days of the Biden administration that the lab-leak theory is the most likely explanation. He also praised Ratcliffe for declassifying the assessment.

“Now, the most important thing is to make China pay for unleashing a plague on the world,” Cotton said in a statement.

China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Chinese authorities have in the past dismissed speculation about COVID’s origins as unhelpful and motivated by politics.

While the origin of the virus remains unknown, scientists think the most likely hypothesis is that it circulated in bats, like many coronaviruses, before infecting another species, probably racoon dogs, civet cats or bamboo rats. In turn, the infection spread to humans handling or butchering those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human cases appeared in late November 2019.

Some official investigations, however, have raised the the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan. Two years ago a report by the Energy Department concluded a lab leak was the most likely origin, though that report also expressed low confidence in the finding.

The same year then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency believed the virus “most likely” spread after escaping from a lab.

Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, has said he favours the lab leak scenario, too.

“The lab leak is the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense,” Ratcliffe said in 2023.

The CIA said it would continue to evaluate any new information that could change its assessment.

You May Also Like
The painting, a valuable copy on reverse glass of a well-known image painted by American artist Gilbert Stuart, was turned over to Englewood police after a tip to Crime Stoppers.

Recovered: Painting of President George Washington found one year after it was stolen

A historic painting of George Washington is back in proper hands more…
Before Melissa Caddick disappeared in November 2020, the Sydney business woman ripped off more than 60 investors to the tune of $25 million dollars.

People who were scammed by Melissa Caddick recover additional funds after losing $23 million

Investors who were deceived by Melissa Caddick before she went missing and…