Source : https://www.ntdtv.com/b5/2020/03/27/a102809999.html
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Image : Medical ship sails to California to fight SARS-CoV-2. Mario Tama / Getty Images)
The US State Department recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to restrict biological weapons. The anniversary day is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The Washington Times, the US International Security and Non-Proliferation Agency said in a tweet on 26 March 2020, "Today we commemorate the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention and reiterate the importance of a weapon commitment. "
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacterial (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention, each State Party has solemnly promised at the time of accession, "For the benefit of all mankind, the elimination of bacteria (Biological) preparations and the possibility of using toxins as weapons ".
The virus is officially known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It first appeared in Wuhan and has spread rapidly around the world since December.
It can be traced back to Wuhan, China but the exact source of the virus is unknown.
Was SARS-CoV-2, which originated from bats, transmitted to humans naturally from the wild animal market in Wuhan, or leaked from the laboratory that studies the virus (SARS-CoV-2)? At present, experts have expressed different opinions.
According to the Voice of America report, one of the papers was deleted shortly after publication, and abstracts of the papers are currently only available online. Xiao Botao and Xiao Lei, professors of the School of Biological Science and Engineering of South China University of Technology, published a paper on Research Gate, a scientific paper sharing website, saying that the laboratory of Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which is less than 300 metres from Wuhan Huanan Seafood Market, may be the source of the virus.
The paper said that the laboratory of the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has a batch of animals for testing, including 155 bats captured in Hubei and 450 bats captured in Zhejiang. A bat attacked a researcher during which the bat's blood touched the researcher's skin. He was thus quarantined for 14 days. In another accident, a bat's urine came into contact with him, and he was isolated again.
The paper wrote, "The patient's genomic sequence is 96% or 89% homologous to bat coronavirus ZC45. This coronavirus was originally found in the chrysanthemum bat, which is not native to Wuhan. They lived some 1,000 kilometres away, but this bat was used by the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention before the outbreak.
The paper also said that the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control is also close to Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital. The first batch of infected medical staff in this outbreak was in this hospital. This may indicate that tissue samples of bats or garbage from lunch may be leaked to the surrounding area, causing the first patients to be infected.
The Biological Weapons Convention entered into force for the first time on 26 March 1975. The multilateral conventions prohibit the development, production or storage of biological and toxin weapons by 183 States parties.
The main biological weapon in U.S. military research was described by Army Colonel Dr. Mark Cotpeter as "the big six." Kotpeter is an expert in bacterial warfare and has worked in the Army's Fort Derrick Biological Warfare Defense Research Laboratory. The "big six" are botulinum toxin, toraemia, Ebola virus and other bleeding viruses, plague, smallpox, and anthrax.
Dr. Kotpeter wrote in his book Hot Zones: Soldiers at the Frontiers of Biological Warfare: "Each pathogen has unique skills and attack strategies that can outperform humans and cause death and damage to individuals or society. "
In its latest annual report on "arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament compliance," the State Department said, "Because of the potential dual-use applications and their potential threats as biological weapons," the United States is concerned about whether the development of toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria is in compliance. "
The Communist Party of China signed the Biological Weapons Convention but the report said that "there is no available information to show that China has taken relevant measures to fulfill its obligations under the Convention" and abandon its offensive biological weapons program.
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Image : Medical ship sails to California to fight SARS-CoV-2. Mario Tama / Getty Images)
The US State Department recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to restrict biological weapons. The anniversary day is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The Washington Times, the US International Security and Non-Proliferation Agency said in a tweet on 26 March 2020, "Today we commemorate the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention and reiterate the importance of a weapon commitment. "
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacterial (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention, each State Party has solemnly promised at the time of accession, "For the benefit of all mankind, the elimination of bacteria (Biological) preparations and the possibility of using toxins as weapons ".
The virus is officially known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It first appeared in Wuhan and has spread rapidly around the world since December.
It can be traced back to Wuhan, China but the exact source of the virus is unknown.
Was SARS-CoV-2, which originated from bats, transmitted to humans naturally from the wild animal market in Wuhan, or leaked from the laboratory that studies the virus (SARS-CoV-2)? At present, experts have expressed different opinions.
According to the Voice of America report, one of the papers was deleted shortly after publication, and abstracts of the papers are currently only available online. Xiao Botao and Xiao Lei, professors of the School of Biological Science and Engineering of South China University of Technology, published a paper on Research Gate, a scientific paper sharing website, saying that the laboratory of Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which is less than 300 metres from Wuhan Huanan Seafood Market, may be the source of the virus.
The paper said that the laboratory of the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has a batch of animals for testing, including 155 bats captured in Hubei and 450 bats captured in Zhejiang. A bat attacked a researcher during which the bat's blood touched the researcher's skin. He was thus quarantined for 14 days. In another accident, a bat's urine came into contact with him, and he was isolated again.
The paper wrote, "The patient's genomic sequence is 96% or 89% homologous to bat coronavirus ZC45. This coronavirus was originally found in the chrysanthemum bat, which is not native to Wuhan. They lived some 1,000 kilometres away, but this bat was used by the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention before the outbreak.
The paper also said that the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control is also close to Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital. The first batch of infected medical staff in this outbreak was in this hospital. This may indicate that tissue samples of bats or garbage from lunch may be leaked to the surrounding area, causing the first patients to be infected.
The Biological Weapons Convention entered into force for the first time on 26 March 1975. The multilateral conventions prohibit the development, production or storage of biological and toxin weapons by 183 States parties.
The main biological weapon in U.S. military research was described by Army Colonel Dr. Mark Cotpeter as "the big six." Kotpeter is an expert in bacterial warfare and has worked in the Army's Fort Derrick Biological Warfare Defense Research Laboratory. The "big six" are botulinum toxin, toraemia, Ebola virus and other bleeding viruses, plague, smallpox, and anthrax.
Dr. Kotpeter wrote in his book Hot Zones: Soldiers at the Frontiers of Biological Warfare: "Each pathogen has unique skills and attack strategies that can outperform humans and cause death and damage to individuals or society. "
In its latest annual report on "arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament compliance," the State Department said, "Because of the potential dual-use applications and their potential threats as biological weapons," the United States is concerned about whether the development of toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria is in compliance. "
The Communist Party of China signed the Biological Weapons Convention but the report said that "there is no available information to show that China has taken relevant measures to fulfill its obligations under the Convention" and abandon its offensive biological weapons program.
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