GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests that the novel coronavirus originated in bats in China late last year and it was not manipulated or constructed in a lab.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, in central China.
“All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed virus in a lab or somewhere else,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a Geneva news briefing. “It is probable, likely that the virus is of animal origin.”
It was not clear how the virus had jumped the species barrier to humans but there had “certainly” been an intermediate animal host, she added.
Reporting by Emma farge and Stephanie Nebehay; Writing by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Alex Richardson