Reports from German media detail that the foreign intelligence agency BND believed there was an 80-90% chance that COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory, amid ongoing controversy over the pandemic's origin.
German Intelligence Service Suggests Lab Leak Theory for COVID Origin
German Intelligence Service Suggests Lab Leak Theory for COVID Origin
New revelations indicate that Germany's BND assessed a high likelihood of COVID-19 originating from a lab accident in 2020.
Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, reportedly conducted an assessment in 2020 that indicated an 80-90% probability that the COVID-19 virus leaked accidentally from a laboratory in China. This information was uncovered by two German newspapers and reveals that the BND had concerns about experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where researchers were modifying viruses to enhance their transmissibility to humans.
Despite the BND's assessment, China has consistently denied any connection between the virus and its laboratories, insisting that investigations into COVID's origins should be led by scientists. The Chinese foreign ministry referenced a World Health Organization (WHO) inquiry that deemed the lab-leak theory "extremely unlikely."
As discussions surrounding the virus's origins continue, the lab-leak hypothesis has gained traction among various intelligence agencies, including the US CIA, which indicated in January that a research-related origin was more plausible than a natural one, although it acknowledged low confidence in this conclusion.
Reports suggest the BND assessment was part of an operation known as Project Saaremaa, initiated under former Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, and shared with the CIA in the fall of the previous year. The BND also identified safety violations at the Wuhan laboratory.
Responses to these findings remain polarized. While a WHO team that visited Wuhan concluded in early 2021 that a lab leak was "extremely unlikely," this conclusion has faced criticism for insufficiently addressing the lab-leak theory. Supporters of the natural origins theory argue the virus emerged from bats, but the lack of a genetic match in other animals has sparked skepticism about this explanation.
As the debate over COVID-19's origins persists, it highlights the complexities and contradictions in our understanding of the pandemic's emergence, with calls for further scientific investigation continuing to grow.
