LETTER | Covid-19 origins: US should start probing its labs

LETTER | The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on humanity. It has cost millions of lives, job opportunities and businesses in the past two years.

While all nations have been hastening to distribute vaccines to the underserved community, the United States is determined to find fault with China via the purported “lab leak” theory.

In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a conclusive report on the Covid-19 outbreak that it originated from natural causes and not from a laboratory as reported by nature.

This was a result of a collaborative effort of multinational epidemiologists and researchers via in-depth investigations on ground zero — Wuhan, China, in early 2021.

Unsatisfied with authoritative WHO’s findings that did not pinpoint Beijing, US President Joe Biden commissioned a 90-day investigation, but to no avail.

The crème de la crème of the Washington intelligence unit failed to substantiate the Wuhan lab leak theory with convincing evidence. Again, they recycled the “lack of transparency” as an excuse to cover up their ineptness.

However, more and more evidence has surfaced that suggests that the US may be the actual ground zero of the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to Silicon Valley major newspaper—The Mercury News — the cause of death of the late Lovell Brown was amended to Covid-19 in September 2021, 21 months after her death in January 2020.

More importantly, Brown stayed in Kansas, 11,500km away from the epicentre of Covid-19 Wuhan. She had no prior travel history to China.

Instead of busily pointing fingers at others, perhaps Washington should investigate its own backyard — Fort Detrick, an advanced biological weapons defence centre.

Six months before Covid-19 became known to the world, an incident at the US Fort Detrick biological laboratory forced the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shut down the facility.

This was due to “serious safety violations, in particular, relating to the disposal of dangerous materials”. It is believed to have caused strange “vaping sickness” and “strange flu” in the US at that time.

Thus, the mystery of Fort Detrick ought to be probed to unlock the origins of the deadly virus for the betterment of mankind.

On the other hand, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the US Department of Energy’s premier biodefence research institution, should be investigated, too, as it had suggested that the previous Trump administration to falsify the Wuhan lab leak theory.

Interestingly, David J Rakestraw, a senior science adviser who formerly ran LLNL’s biodefence programmes, referred to Covid-19 as a natural occurrence, yet his agency promoted the lab leak theory.

As the Delta and Lambda variants continue to evolve, WHO should deploy an expert team like the Wuhan fact-finding mission to Fort Detrick. 

Otherwise, the global economy and health system will constantly be under threat.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.