WASHINGTON, June 10 (Xinhua) – The origin of the novel coronavirus pandemic is “unlikely” to be that of a laboratory leak, said American vaccinologist Peter Hotez, professor at Baylor School of Medicine at Houston, in an interview published Tuesday on the site of the magazine US News & World Report.
Its origin is thought to be linked to several factors, including animal hosts, urbanization, expansion of deforestation and possibly climate change, which “could lead to increased contact between humans and animals, or the capacity of animals. viruses to pass from animals to humans, “when mankind has not fully understood their interaction, he said.
To determine “the potential animal origins of COVID-19”, an interdisciplinary team of Chinese and international scientists was to be established to “comprehensively test wild animal spaces, including bats and possibly domestic animals, such as cattle, ”adds Hotez.
After SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, SARS-CoV-2 could alert us that “a new serious coronavirus epidemic could arise every eight to ten years” and humans need to know the origin of COVID- 19 to “prevent coronavirus pandemics”, he emphasizes. End
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