Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Virology essay published in March 2019 warning about future possible coronavirus outbreaks

Reporter : Zheng Gusheng
Editor : Ming Xuan
Publisher : New Tang Dynasty Television
Ref : https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/04/01/a102813659.html
Extract translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                            / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : Web Screenshot. ResearchGate with access to the article in the academic journal Viruses contributed by Shi Zhengli and other virus experts warning about possible virus outbreaks in China.



The source of the virus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the disease COVID-19 has been widely questioned related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Shi Zhengli, a bat virus expert at the institute, became the focus of public opinion. In March 2019, she posted a paper to the international academic journal Viruses warning about possible bat virus outbreaks in China. The paper has attracted attention in China.

On 2 March 2019, the international academic journal Viruses published a paper entitled "Bat Coronaviruses in China", predicting a large-scale outbreak of bat coronavirus in China.



The research project was completed by Shi Zhengli and Zhou Peng of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-authors Zhao Kai and Fan Yi. of the virus research institute. The P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology known as the CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety specializes in researching various kinds of the most deadly infectious viruses, and has been accused of participating in the development of biological weapons of the Chinese military.

This virology essay mainly reviews previous research results and mentions that past zoonotic coronaviruses "have common characteristics, such as they are all highly pathogenic to humans or livestock, their agents originated from bats, and two of them originated in China. Thus, it is highly likely that future SARS- or MERS-like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China."

The above statements by the experts suggest that it is generally believed that the bat coronaviruses will once again trigger  waves of outbreaks, and China will be the centre of the outbreak. The challenge China faces is to predict the time and places of the outbreak and try to prevent its outbreak.

The paper was submitted to Viruses on 29 January 2019, less than a year after the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.



The article also stresses that bat coronavirus research has become an urgent issue for detecting early warning signals, which will minimize the impact of future outbreaks in China. 

Bats are natural hosts of many coronaviruses that have been discovered. The researchers of the paper infer that bats may eventually transmit deadly pathogens to humans, and predict the way the virus spreads from bats to humans via intermediate hosts.

This research was supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project of the Communist Party of China (No. 2018ZX10101004) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The dissertation was published in English only and did not attract much attention. There were no reports in Chinese. The purpose of publishing this paper in English for restricted distribution to the academic circles and not reported by the China Communist Party media is obviously not to warn China and the world the hidden dangers of bat coronaviruses.

Shi Zhengli is the Director of Wuhan Institute of Virology's Infectious Diseases Research Center and the Deputy Director of the P4 laboratory. She is also known as the so-called "bat virus expert". Many of Shi Zhengli's research projects involve the bat coronavirus "possibility to transmit from person to person", including the 2015 participation in the production of a hybrid coronavirus, which allowed it to successfully integrate with human ACE2.

The reason why Shi Zhengli and others carried out these studies was that "since there is a possibility of transmission, it is better to artificially create it and study the prevention measures in advance." However, overseas academics do not endorse this statement, criticizing them for irresponsibly creating huge hidden dangers. Many people think that this is just an excuse for CCP experts to develop biological weapons.

In 2013, Chen Hualan, an expert from the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, once hybridized the H5N1 avian influenza virus with the H1N1 human influenza virus to create 127 new viruses, and studied their lethality, infectivity, and ability to infect humans. Just as Shi Zhengli made coronaviruses that can infect humans in 2015, this research institute has caused fierce criticism in overseas academic circles. The Harbin Veterinary Research Institute is accused of being another China Communist Party (CCP) institution involved in the development of military biological weapons.

Judging from the results of genomic sequence alignment, experts at home and abroad have pointed out that SARS-CoV-2 is very similar to the two Zhoushan bat virus samples discovered by the CCP military in 2018. Several overseas experts have also suggested that the S protein fragment in SARS-CoV-2 has been "precisely replaced", which has the characteristics of artificial viruses.

The CCP media confirmed that as early as late January, Chen Wei, the chief biochemical weapon defense expert of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Institute of Bioengineering of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, had traveled south to Wuhan. There is news from the mainland China media that she has taken over the P4 laboratory of the Wuhan virus research institute.

On 13 February 2020, blast noise could be heard near the Wuhan Institute of Virology but officials refused to disclose the reason, causing various speculations. One of the claims is that local residents informed relatives and friends that certain buildings inside the virus research institute were demolished.

Xi Jinping made a special mention in his speech on 14 February 2020 to accelerate the promotion of "biosecurity" legislation. Subsequently, a number of ministries and commissions of the Communist Party of China immediately issued documents requesting "strengthening virus laboratory management."


StayGate's Notes
According to the review paper published by Viruses, Shi Zhengli can be contacted at zlshi@wh.iov.cn. Her colleague Zhou Peng can be contacted at peng.zhou@wh.iov.cn.

Ref : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331492838_Bat_Coronaviruses_in_China

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