WHO Launches New Expert Group For What May Be ‘Last Chance’ to Find COVID Origins

Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, said the new panel may be the last chance to establish the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has formed an expert group that will study the origins of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement during a press briefing in Geneva, “following a public call for experts.”

The proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) were selected for their expertise in areas such as epidemiology, animal health, clinical medicine, virology and genomics.

The 26 experts were selected from over 700 applications and were chosen for their world-class expertise and experience in a range of disciplines, as well as their geographic and gender diversity.

“SAGO will advise WHO on the development of a global framework to define and guide studies into the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential, including SARS-CoV-2,” the WHO chief said.

“The emergence of new viruses with the potential to spark epidemics and pandemics is a fact of nature, and while SARS-CoV-2 is the latest such virus, it will not be the last.”

A two-week public consultation period will take place for WHO to receive feedback on the proposed SAGO members.

Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency expert, said the new panel may be the last chance to establish the origin of SARS-CoV-2, “a virus that has stopped our whole world”.

The WHO was seeking to “take a step back, create an environment where we can again look at the scientific issues”, he said. “This is our best chance, and it may be our last chance to understand the origins of this virus.”
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead on COVID-19, said the world must be better prepared for any future “Disease X”.

Answering a question, she stated that SAGO will recommend further studies in China, and potentially elsewhere, to understand the origins of the new coronavirus, UN News reported.

While SAGO will advise WHO, any future missions will be organized by the UN agency and the country in question. “I want to make it very clear that the SAGO is not the next mission team. There’s been some misrepresentation about that going forward,” she said.

A WHO-led team of scientists that travelled to China in early 2021 to investigate the origins of the virus struggled to get a clear picture of what research China was conducting beforehand, faced constraints during its visit, and had little power to conduct thorough and impartial research.

(With inputs from ANI)